This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 29, 2024 - August 4, 2024

Twenty-five years after its opening on Aug 31, 1999, the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers still reign as the tallest twin skyscrapers in the world. Soaring to a height of 452m, the iconic stainless steel and glass edifice and beloved crown jewel of our nation still dazzles as an internationally recognised landmark. Apart from being a well-known tourist attraction, the property is fully occupied and home to offices with a total gross floor area of 5.4 million sq ft.

To ensure that this architectural and engineering masterpiece continues to stand the test of time, maintenance and property management have to be beyond excellent, so it is no surprise that the towers are the recipient of the Editor’s Choice award for Timeless Elegance and have been awarded Gold at The Edge Malaysia Best Managed & Sustainable Property Awards 2024 under the 10 Years and Above — Non-strata Office category.

The property had also previously bagged the Editor’s Choice and Gold awards in 2017, the year the awards started.

Maintaining the building to what it is today requires discipline, says KLCC (Holdings) Sdn Bhd group CEO Datuk Md Shah Mahmood. “As all the maintenance programmes — the preventive and scheduled maintenance, predictive maintenance and corrective maintenance — are routine and already in place, the key is having the discipline to ensure that everything continues to work well.”

He says that considering the building’s maintainability during the design stage also played an instrumental role. “It’s important to ensure that a building is maintainable, which is a major component that is sometimes overlooked. In addition, we believe in enhancing the capabilities and skills of our people. In facility management, we expose them to the latest technology and we explore technology.”

As testament to its unending pursuit of excellence, Petronas Twin Towers — albeit a decade older than the Green Building Index (GBI), which was launched in 2009 — achieved the GBI Gold rating in 2019.

“Having a building that was over 20 years old attain GBI Gold certification is an achievement in itself,” Md Shah notes.

The GBI renewal application for the building is currently in the process.

Petronas Twin Towers are managed by KLCC Urusharta Sdn Bhd — a wholly-owned subsidiary

of KLCC Property Holdings Bhd (KLCCP), whose immediate holding company is KLCC (Holdings), the master developer of the KLCC development. KLCCP along with KLCC Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) forms Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas)-controlled KLCCP Stapled

Group (KL:KLCC), the largest REIT and only stapled security in the country.

Apart from the intricate motifs inspired by traditional songket patterns and hardwood wall panel carvings that line the entrance foyer, what stood out during our visit to Petronas Twin Towers was the robust security framework from the pre-arrival registration to facial recognition and security scanning, much like going through airport security.

“We put a lot of focus in terms of ensuring the highest safety standards,” says Md Shah. “We conduct regular, periodic and preventive maintenance as well as inspections of the building as it was designed almost 30 years ago. We even have earthquake monitoring and analyse the structure at specific intervals. We continue to upgrade and enhance the safety standards of the building to ensure the safety of all the tenants here.”

In addition, emergency evacuation drills are carried out almost every year.

“And this is unannounced, so that everyone in the building knows how to respond in the event of an emergency evacuation. We work with the authorities, Bomba and police for this,” Md Shah adds.

Apart from safety, the team’s priority is to ensure minimal downtime, the building’s sustainability and that its aesthetic appeal is second to none.

“We do this by applying a multi-phase approach to ensure structural integrity, safety and, of course, the look and feel of the building as an appealing landmark,” says Md Shah.

To do all that and more, the team leverages technology in the form of its Integrated Building Command Centre (IBCC), which is an automated, real-time building management system that leverages the power of data and enables centralised monitoring, control and command.

“After obtaining GBI certification in 2019, we implemented the IBCC in 2021. Initially, it was only a command centre but we eventually made it a control centre. The system is also integrated with the work order system when we have downtime, so the operations and maintenance are more efficient,” says Md Shah.

The IBCC helps the team in its management and maintenance of the building by analysing trends from the data collected. “Before this, it was all done manually. But now, it’s all in the system so we can track whether there are problems on certain floors, when to change what … and it’s in real time. Also, the system is integrated with other buildings that we manage, such as Menara Petronas 3, and we’re currently looking to integrate Menara ExxonMobil into the system. That’s the beauty of it,” he adds.

The services and subservices that the IBCC monitors and controls include the building’s energy management, automation and sensor monitoring systems, CCTVs including those at KLCC Precinct, chilled water system, HSSE (health, safety, security and environment), vertical transportation system, external lighting, temperature of the air handling unit or AHU, and fresh air intake.

The system also takes cleaning to the next level as the building — constructed with 899,000 sq ft of stainless steel extrusions and 590,000 sq ft of laminated glass, which keep the heat and UV rays out — requires two whole months to clean. “With GPS technology, we can track the location of the gondolas and monitor wind speed and direction to ensure the safety of the cleaning operations,” Md Shah says.

When lit up, Petronas Twin Towers are a sight to behold indeed. But lighting up both skyscrapers used to be a lot more expensive before the team began searching for ways to reduce energy usage. One of these was by changing conventional external lighting to LED in 2022.

“Previously, every time we wanted to change the lighting colours, we would have to install a filter — which costs nearly RM100,000 — just for a few days. With LED, we can now have different colours and movements, and at the same time cut our energy bill in half,” says Md Shah.

To date, 1,154 units of the conventional façade lighting have been replaced. The previous external lighting with the floodlight concept had been in use for more than 20 years to illuminate the building façade at night and on special occasions.

Another improvement initiative by the property

management team is Workplace for Tomorrow (WFT), whereby the physical workplace environment is reimagined to drive collaboration and teamwork.

“This is to encourage more productivity and collaboration by having a more open office concept with things like standing desks, beanbags and, at the same time, providing smaller meeting spaces for privacy, including nursing rooms and chill out zones. In terms of furniture, we have considered the ergonomics and materials used,” says Md Shah. “This is a continuous effort, considering the future and sustainability of the building. Whether or not the building is certified, our philosophy is to always look in terms of optimisation and efficiency, which contribute to its sustainability. And WFT also addresses the social aspect of ESG (environmental, social and governance) by considering work-life balance and mental health. For us, it’s important to have that balance.”

The WFT initiative, which started in 2017, was completed in 2019 with 112 floors refurbished, according to Md Shah.

To ensure they are on the right track, the management team takes customer satisfaction seriously.

“The people’s satisfaction is important so we carry out a tenant survey twice a year and address any complaint. Our winning formula is customer centricity and our focus is on the customer experience. We want them to feel comfortable and safe coming into the office,” says Md Shah.

A building of this age also requires upgrades to stay relevant, he adds. “There are a lot of improvements that need to be done and we are doing that progressively. We don’t want people to think that the building is dated, so it’s important to make sure it stays relevant.”

To identify what needs replacing or changing, Md Shah says that a building life cycle assessment is done.

“For the façade, because there’s a lot of glass. We’re also looking at updating the washrooms and plumbing. We do a lot of tests to ensure things are working well, such as the electrical systems and water leak detection system. We’re also in the midst of upgrading our vertical transportation system, which is very important for a high-rise building. So all these will ensure the building lasts for another 25 to 50 years, and that’s always the goal.”

The twin towers have 29 double-decker high-speed passenger lifts, six heavy-duty service lifts and four executive lifts in total.

Behind a well-managed property is a strong facilities management team. Hence, for Md Shah, identifying potential talents is key. “It’s important to have people with the right competency and capability. As a group, I think the attraction for talent here is growth as we have diverse roles and positions within the group and they will not be stagnant. Once they’re here, it’s more of a career. They can go from facilities management to parking, development, gas district cooling and centralised procurement, so there is room to grow. I think that is our value proposition as an integrated business.”

Beyond steel and glass, the Petronas Twin Towers continue to stand as a steadfast symbol of unity, harmony, stability and rationality — as reflected in the architectural design of each tower floor plate based on the Islamic geometric form made up of two interlocking squares that create the shape of an eight-pointed star — and, of course, the pride of Malaysia.

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