KLIFD takes shape

Kuala Lumpur: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the government-owned firm in charge of setting up the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD), has picked Akitek Ju-rurancang (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and its international partner, Machado Silvetti and Associates (MSA), as the project's master planners.

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The US$8 billion (RM23.7 billion) KLIFD, one of Malaysia's biggest projects, aims to tightly cluster financial institutions and top global firms on 30.3ha of land in the Imbi area, fronting Jalan Tun Razak here. A detailed masterplan of the project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, 1MDB said in a press statement yesterday. The project is a joint venture between 1MDB and Mubadala Development Corp, Abu Dhabi's investment arm. 1MDB had, in late 2010, organised a design competition for master planners, attracting some of the world's best. "The two companies (Akitek Jururancang and MSA) represent the fusion of local and international talents that best translate 1MDB's vision for the future financial district, through their concept and rendering of the masterplan," said Datuk Azmar Talib, chief operating officer of 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of 1MDB. He said the two companies share a vision for a "highly functioning, interesting, innnovative and aesthetically pleasing urban district" that would establish KLIFD as a financial centre of choice. Construction work is expected to take off in June, according to news reports earlier this year. The project is seen to be providing significant stimulus for the construction and related industries. It will leverage on Malaysia's existing strength in Islamic finance and play on its strategic location to complement other financial centres within the region. The RHB banking group is expected to be the first to set up presence there. According to 1MDB, the Akitek Jururancang-MSA partnership is to deliver a sustainable, modern and progressive KLIFD. This will be projected through buildings, a pedestrian-friendly green public realm and seamless links to public transportation. "We have a real contribution to make to the urbanscape of Kuala Lumpur in line with the objective of the Greater KL initiative to make Kuala Lumpur a world-class city. The increasing emphasis on the greening of the city - as manifested in the recent River of Life and upgrading of the Lake Gardens - signals a welcome reception of KLIFD's unique 'Financial Centre in the Park'," Akitek Jururancang's managing director Datuk Seri Esa Mohamed said in the same statement. The River of Life is a project name for the beautification of a 10.7km stretch of the Klang and Gombak river. Akitek Jururancang's partner MSA, a US-firm based in Boston, has worked on projects like The Mint Museum (Charlotte, North Carolina) and the Boston Public Library. It won an architecture prize last year for its work on the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.