Building & Investment (Sep - Oct 2015) | Page 44

Special Feature Dato’ Ir Haji Abdul Ghani. For example, we will have a buffer of trees at the lake’s side to help cool the building. The building itself will be separated into four blocks with space in between to allow people and air movement. A pedestrian walkway system encompassing the whole area will also be in the design. Unrestricted by fences, the walkway allows free access through our building to and from Taman Rekreasi Indah, Plaza Alam Sentral, Muzium Sultan Alam and so on. We plan to provide five charging points for electrical cars and a park for bicycles for our staff and the public. B&I: Aside from housing PKNS’ corporate office, what other amenities would be available for public access and use, including leasable space? PKNS: Originally, the plan was for alfresco dining, retail shops and so on for public access but the Management is now re-thinking whether to convert them into office space. Looking at our own demand, we will probably need all that is available although we will have to maintain some for public services, e.g., payments, ATMs, etc. Located on the topmost floor of Block A will be PKNS Management’s office, an auditorium plus a mutli-purpose hall as well as a surau that will be open to the public. The park on the rooftop will have walkways, tree planting, water springs and reflexology paths and a big screen monitor. We will not encroach on the lake although there will be a dining area and our own café facing the lake but other F&B outlets are not in the plan as yet. 40 Building & Investment | www.b-i.biz B&I: When will the new PKNS HQ be commissioned and what is the fate of the old at Jalan Barat, Petaling Jaya? PKNS: Laman PKNS is scheduled to be completed in November 2015 – that is the target we have set for the contractor who has already revised the original date twice, first to February and then July. All in, with furniture and fittings, all fees and consultant services included, the final cost will be about RM200 million. The old Jalan Barat building is already demolished and the new development, under MRCB, will be called PJ Sentral. B&I: Finally, what is upcoming next by way of PKNS housing projects? PKNS: Currently, our ongoing projects all over Selangor from north to south and east to west is easily about 45, if you define projects as contracts that are on-going or on the drawing board. PKNS is a big organisation employing 1,100 people and we can’t afford to stop constructing. From up north at Bernam Jaya and down south to Rawang and Rasa, we have a few thousand units; then south to Dengkil we have a flagship project, the 1,000-acre township of Taman Science with a GDV of RM2.0 billion. We have just awarded over RM100 million for the contract to build SOHOs, a commercial centre as well as other amenities and there is going to be a launch of high-end condos soon. Q