Special Feature
General Manager( Technical), Dato’ Ir Haji Abdul Ghani Hashim and his team( Ir Izharuddin Abd Rahman, Senior Manager, Project Management and Ar Wan Hisham Wan Hawari, Project Manager) for the latest on the project.
B & I: Since the 2011 news report of“ PKNS’ new RM90 million-HQ scheduled for completion in early 2013”, what key changes were made to warrant the new / revised date of end 2015?
PKNS: Just to share with you some background – sometime in 2007, the old HQ in Jalan Barat, Petaling Jaya which was close to 10 acres was sold off. Anyway, by 2011, the urgency to have our own building led us to identify this site of 4.0 acres beside a lake at Section 14 Shah Alam, on condition that the development be of low-density, the area be preserved and the environment be undisturbed.
We ran a design competition with five architectural firms responding and Veritas Architects’ submission was chosen as the winning design. Comprising four blocks and sloping down from eight storey down to two, the development is low-rise and environmentally-friendly. The concept was to lift up that piece of land and place all the buildings underneath with a roof on top. Also, as our contribution to the State
Government, it is another iconic building that could be a tourist attraction, open to the public with a mosque, mall and lake nearby.
Then, we had to go through MBSA( Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam) for approval before calling our tender in two packages; the first for foundation and piling and second for the main building. The preliminary estimate in 2011 was RM90 million but with PKNS expanding and recruiting more people, we needed more space, so the original plan of 400,000 sq ft was increased to 500,000, that is 25 % more. On top of that, we were aiming to score the highest GBI rating- Platinum.
B & I: A GBI-platinum rating is targeted for Laman PKNS. For the benefit of our readers, what are the green features that will be in place?
PKNS: The three main systems identified are water harvesting, solar air conditioning and IAQ( indoor air quality). We will capture rainwater for landscaping, cleaning and washing. Through solar air conditioning we will try, as much as possible, to minimise wastage of the cooled air. Apart from that, absorption chilling will be used to chill water by about 10 %- we have not gone to the extent of 15 % as we don’ t have the area for it but we are trying to make full use of what is available – if successful, we will adapt it for our housing projects.
Ir Izharuddin Abd Rahman, Senior Manager, Project Management.
For Indoor Air Quality, curtain wall and other materials will be used. E-glass will be used for certain façades( east, as building oriented east-west) and low E-glass for others. Further, the elevated roof will be a landscaped garden and green park and Block A, the largest, will be filled with vertical landscaping.
B & I: Besides these features, we understand that the development in total will also incorporate a green network of outdoor space to be annexed to the building and open to the public. Would you elaborate, please?
PKNS: Other than landscaped area, we intend to make full use of the building design and outdoor space to make the project green.
Building & Investment | www. b-i. biz 39