Petronas Twin Towers Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Petronas Twin Towers photos

The Petronas Twin Towers  inKula Lampur,Malaysia are twin towers and were the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by theUS-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).

Here are some interesting facts about the Petronas Towers:

- combined the towers have 1,000,000m2 of floor space;

- at the 41st and 42nd level a skybridge connects the two towers 170m/558f above the ground.This bridge is 58.4m/192f long, weighs 750 tons and is open for the public since the end of 2000.

The entrance is free (closed on Monday!), but only a limited amount of timed tickets (800) is given out each day.

Chances are you will have to wait in line quite a while, before you get such a free ticket;and you're only allowed on the bridge for a mere 10 minutes. Worth it?
Maybe, but instead a visit to the observatory of Menara Kuala Lumpur is much more interesting,
though there is an entrance fee there (of RM15);
- the towers have 32.000 windows;

- the building costs were US $ 1,2 billion;
- the towers were designed to symbolise strength and grace using geometric principles typified in Islamic architecture;
- without pinnacle the buildings are 'only' 378m/1,240f tall;
- the towers are part of the 100-acre KLCC Development.
Other components of the development include the Suria KLCC, a six-story, 93,000 square feet shopping centre
(with 270 specialty shops, cinema's and a food arcade), Menara Maxis, Menara Esso, the 20-hectare KLCC Park,
a 6,000 capacity Surau, the District Cooling Centres to provide air conditioning
and infrastructure works within the vicinity.
The whole complex was built on a former horse-racing track;
- the towers' complex includes an art gallery, an 840-seat concert hall, and an underground parking lot;
the main occupant of the buildings is Petronas, the national oil-company;
- though completed in 1998, the buildings were officially opened on August 28th, 1999;
- each tower contains 80,000 m3 of concrete in strengths up to Grade 80, almost 11,000 tonnes of reinforcement,
and 7,500 tonnes of structural steel beams and trusses.
- when standing in front of the building and looking towards the entrance,
like seen on the picture above on the left (kl015), tower 2 is the building on the left,
and tower 1 is the building on the right.

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