REX has been selected as one of five finalists for a 173,000 square meter proposal located near the equator in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dubbed as the "Equator Tower," the concept wraps a retractable, PTFE-coated, glass fiber-reinforced sun shade around a slender 80-story tower, blocking direct sun exposure from all four sides.
Each floor, comprised of 12-meter wide plates, accommodates office, commercial and leisure spaces, dispersing "extra amenities" — observatory, sky lobbies and podium lobbies — throughout the length of the tower. Mullion-free, floor-to-ceiling glass clads the resulting "office machine," needing only small columns dispersed throughout the perimeters.
The skin of the building drapes like a veil and exists in two states. During the day, the sun shade is stretched between the extra amenities and mechanical floors on a tensile cable net, "creating a high-performance, lyrical silhouette." The veil protects the offices' unobstructed views from daylight and glare, providing 85 percent opacity. 4.2-meter shingles allow air circulation and ease of retraction with a silver exterior coating that rejects heat, while a black coating on the interior enhances visual legibility of the cityscape.
On overcast days and at night, the swooping veil is retracted to the mechanical floors, revealing a rigid core that will undoubtedly become a spectacle within Kuala Lumpur's skyline.
Architects
Location
Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaDesign Team
Adam Chizmar, Danny Duong, Luis Gil, Alysen Hiller, Gabriel Jewell-Vitale, Roberto Otero, Se Yoon Park, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Yuan Tiauriman, Cristina WebbExecutive Architect
DPConsultants
ARUP, Barker Mohandas, DEGW, Front, Magnusson Klemencic, Martha Schwartz PartnersArea
173000.0 sqmProject Year
2013Photographs
Luxigon, REXLocation
Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaProject Year
2013Photographs
Courtesy of Luxigon, Courtesy of REX, {"text"=>"", "type"=>"media_provider", "id"=>"5054327428ba0d64b200000f"}Area
173000.0 m2
