TRENDSETTERS
A R C H I T E C T U R E F I R M TO WATC H
The firm’s holistic combination of architectural design, structural engineering, and sustainable engineering services culminate for the creation of Jakarta’s forthcoming Pertamina Tower By Amanda Koellner
OPPOSITE Pertamina Tower in Jakarta, tentatively set for a 2021 completion date, is targeting net zero by harnessing geothermal energy. Plus, a wind funnel at the top of the tower’s crown will generate additional energy, and the building’s curvature will mitigate solar heat gain throughout the year.
36
may–june 2015
Considering they’ve designed and built some of the world’s tallest buildings—including the John Hancock Center, Willis Tower, and Burj Khalifa—Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) was the perfect firm to tackle the upcoming Pertamina Energy Tower—the world’s first supertall tower for which energy is the number one design driver. Created for the Indonesian stateowned energy company and set to rise more than 1,640 feet above the city of Jakarta, this stunning new 99-story “beacon of energy” and skyline landmark will boast a performing arts and exhibition pavilion, a mosque, and a central energy plant. “What makes Pertamina particularly interesting is that while it’s geared toward corporate use, its auditoriums, exhibition space, and mosque are all also open to the city and the community,” says Mustafa K. Abadan, design partner at SOM, who orchestrated the overall vision for the project with a team that, at times, reached 60 or 70 people firm-wide. “There’s also a visitor center that has more controlled access, like a museum, that allows for direct interaction between the corporation and the public in educating them about what they do, how they harness energy, their petroleum products, etc.” Abadan
also notes that a series of additional employee-specific elements will also be dispersed around the campus, such as a fitness center/sporting pavilion and major cafeteria/food court. Although practicality (Pertamina brings together 20,000 formerly dispersed employees in one central location) and community (on top of the aforementioned, green spaces and parks will also be open) top the list of design drivers at play, sustainability is the focus. The development is targeting net zero by harnessing geothermal energy; a wind funnel at the top of the tower’s crown will generate additional energy, and the building’s curvature will mitigate solar heat gain throughout the year—just a few specifics among a myriad of boundary-pushing innovations. In addition to talking with Abadan on the subject, gb&d spoke with design director Scott Duncan, and Luke Leung, director of sustainable engineering, to learn more about Pertamina, which is tentatively set for a 2021 completion date. gb&d: So seeing as this is the world’s first supertall tower for which energy was the primary design driver, I’m curious as to if the sustainable strategies were a gbdmagazine.com
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SOM
SOM