Exchange 106: An inside look at Malaysia’s tallest building

Exchange 106 is Malaysia’s latest skyscraper located at Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), the new financial and business hub of Kuala Lumpur. Standing at 492.06 metres tall above sea level with a total of 106 floors, this is currently the tallest building in Malaysia, surpassing the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers (451.9 metres). It’s also the 6th tallest office building in the world.

Build and managed by Mulia Group, a commercial property developer from Indonesia, the new tower will open its doors to its first batch of tenants in December 2019. Ahead of its official opening, we have gotten the privilege to have an early preview of the latest KL landmark.

According to Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd, the building has 2.6 million square feet of lettable space and they have secured 20% occupancy with approximately 500,000 square feet.

They aim to increase occupancy to 50% with 1.3 million square feet by the end of 2020. The building took 835 days to build with 20 million total manhours. It has an average construction cycle of 3 days per floor and at some point, they even managed to achieve 2 days per floor which is impressive.

Exchange 106 was recently awarded its Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) for the lower half of the building. During the media preview, we were invited to the 57th floor which is the sky lobby that connects tenants and visitors to the upper half of the tower.

We were told that the sky lobby will be the highest floor accessible to the public as there’s no observatory deck at the very top. The common area in the sky lobby is quite spacious covering two floors and there are plans for a cafe and a restaurant at these levels.

To get a clearer view of the KL skyline, as shown above, there’s also a balcony located on the northwest side of the building. In case you’re wondering, the floor number 57 for the sky lobby represents Malaya’s year of independence from British rule in 1957.

Exchange 106 offers seamless access to major highways such as MEX and SMART through a network of tunnels in TRX. The building has a total of 6 floors for parking. For tenants that take public transport, there will be a direct link to the Tun Razak Exchange MRT station which is also an interchange for both Sungai Buloh – Kajang line and the upcoming Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya line.

To move tenants up to their respective floors as efficient as possible, the building adopts an integrated turnstile and lift system. Like most newer office buildings, the individual lifts don’t come with an array of buttons for the individual floors.

For this building, you will be assigned your lift the moment you tap your access card at the turnstile and this allows the system to know exactly how many people are going to certain floors. With this system in place, you can expect not more than 3 stops to reach your designated floor.

The building has a total of 93 column-free office floors that can be customised according to your business needs. The floor space ranges from 22,000 square feet to 34,000 square feet which is said to be the largest in Malaysia.

We were brought to one of the sample office floors and it feels very spacious due to the lack of pillars within the spaces. Even the common toilets for each floor are equipped with smart toilets that offer automated and electronic controls for the lid, bidet and dryer. It can even play soothing music when you’re doing your business. For those in upper management, there’s even a separate executive washroom.

To support the needs of tenants, there are two floors for retail spaces. This may include cafes, convenient stores and clinics. For more retail outlets, the building will be linked to The Exchange TRX mall that’s designed with an integrated park. The mall is expected to be completed in Q3 2021.

As you would expect with modern structures, the Exchange 106 is also a GBI (Green Building Index) certified building that’s constructed with sustainability in mind. This includes design elements that provide energy and water savings, better connectivity to public transport as well as the adoption of extensive greenery alongside the building.

To attract tech-related and e-commerce companies, the building has also gotten approval at the first stage to be an MSC Tier 1 Cybercentre. The building is also fully connected by fibre with additional redundancy and it has in-building coverage for mobile networks.

During our visit, we were able to get 4G with full bars on Maxis but this doesn’t seem to be the case for Digi and Celcom. We reckon all telcos should be tapping into their infrastructure before the tenants start moving in.

During the event, Mulia Group representatives didn’t reveal exact figures for its rental rates. With its location and 5-star hospitality management, Exchange 106 asking rent is said to be above market prices despite the oversupply of office spaces in the Klang Valley.

They shared that many leading global and local MNCs have made plans to relocate to Exchange 106. This includes a top-five Fortune 500 global consulting firm, a Hong Kong-based multinational personal care brand and some of the world’s most recognised e-commerce platforms.

The Exchange 106 is an impressive new skyscraper in town and it’s set to be as iconic as the Petronas Twin Towers. However, it won’t be able to claim the tallest building in Malaysia for long. The 666-metre tall PNB 118 which is still under construction is expected to snatch the title when it’s completed in 2021.