Building Investment (Sep - Oct 2015)

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.
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