February_1965 — Page 22

54

Kuala Lumpur Offices Given Pineapple Look

Sun-hood cladding on all facades

Corner detail of the AIA Building

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LMOST ten per cent of the cost of constructing the new Ameri- can International Building in Kuala Lumpur is accounted for by its method of sun protection.

The entire building is faced in diamond-shaped sun hoods of ano- dised aluminium, giving it a pine- apple appearance which by coin- cidence is appropriate as the Eng- lish translation of Bukit Nanas, where the building is sited, is Pine- apple Hill.

While the initital cost of this sun shading has been high, the Ameri- can International Assurance Co. Ltd.

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TYPICAL FLOOR

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SHOP SPACE

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CONCOURSE AND SHOPPING ARCADE LEVEL

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and their advisers consider it to be a sound investment. It has resulted in economies in the size of the air- conditioning plant required, in the operating costs of air-conditioning and in the space needed for the mechanical equipment. A further benefit to the owners is that more rentable space is made available by a reduction in the size of the ducts and by the design allowing me- chanical piping to be hung between the exterior wall and the solar

screen.

Half-pyramids

The sun hoods are each 4 ft. wide by 1 ft. 6 in. to the apex, and the half-pyramid protrudes 2 ft. from the vertical. They are screwed to a diamond grid of aluminium extru- sions fitted over the glass curtain walling. Altogether there is 50,637 sq. ft. of sunscreen, composed of 9,208 hoods fixed to 43,000 ft. of aluminium extrusions.

It is estimated that during only two weeks of the year will the sun penetrate the building. This is in mid-winter when the sun reaches its lowest zenith.

The AIA Building is a 17-storey structure standing on a plot of two acres between Bukit Nanas and Ampang Road. It is adjoined by a two-storey shopping arcade with a ground floor complex of banks and shops accessible from both build- ings. Parking for nearly 220 cars is provided on the roof of the arcade.

Each office floor has 6,000 sq. ft. of usable space and in each there are only six supporting columns. A module of 4 ft. 6 in. has been adopted to make partitioning easy and because of the building's hexa- gonal shape on plan no point on any floor is more than 30 ft. from a window.

Beam and Slab

Gross floor area of the office tower is 155,000 sq. ft., and of the shopping arcade 30,000 sq. ft.

The building is of reinforced con- crete beam and slab construction, with rectangular columns spaced at 22-1/6 in. in one direction but vary- ing in the other because of the hexagonal shape.

Far East Architect & Builder February, 1965