The project’s mixed-use podium.
The project’s mixed-use podium.
Anchoring the Thamrin Nine development, the new mixed-use building establishes an iconic presence on the city skyline while advancing the new district’s position as a dynamic center of commerce and cultural activity, welcoming visitors to its unique public areas – including rooftop observation decks – and providing a variety of spaces for living, working, and socializing.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is pleased to share that Autograph Tower, a 383-meter-tall, skyline-defining building in Jakarta, recently topped out, marking the latest milestone in the construction of the Thamrin Nine mixed-use development. Along with the neighboring KPF-designed Luminary Tower and connecting mixed-use podium, the integrated buildings accommodate a number of programs and create an active hub for the development. The most visible elements of Thamrin Nine, the two towers occupy a prominent site in the city, located between the Old City to the north – including one of Jakarta’s most significant historic landmarks, the iconic Selamat Datang Monument – and the city’s Central Business District to the south.
“It’s been very exciting to have been involved in the formation of the towers at Thamrin Nine and we couldn’t be prouder to reach this important milestone,” said Robert Whitlock, KPF Design Principal. “Our design for the project as an integrated live, work, stay, play destination at the fundamental heart of Jakarta builds upon KPF’s experience creating place-centric mixed-use destinations around the world. With the unique mix of program types, the connections to public transportation and the provision of public open space, we think this project will advance the goal of furthering Jakarta’s place as one of the world’s great cities.”
Standing above neighboring high-rise buildings, Autograph and Luminary Towers are significant additions to the Jakarta skyline, with Autograph Tower ranking as the city’s first supertall at 383 meters – taller than New York City’s Empire State Building – making it the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The three buildings step up in height from the low-level retail podium, to the 304-meter Luminary Tower, and culminate at Autograph Tower.
“Jakarta has long been one of our favorite places to work,” said Peter Gross, KPF Managing Principal.“Over the course of 30 years, and numerous projects, we have been able to design buildings that engage and respond to Jakarta’s unique architectural character. With the recently completed Sequis Tower, and now the prominent Autograph Tower, we are honored to have been able to contribute to the city’s urban life and skyline.”
Layered like vertical cities, both towers integrate a range of public and private functions including office, hotel, retail, cultural, hospitality, academic, athletic, and public space. Four illuminated observation decks cantilever off the glass structures, addressing key landmarks and establishing a significant presence in the city. The tower crowns also feature dramatic public observation decks with restaurants, as well as semi-private spaces serving the luxury hotel and residential spaces on their upper floors.
“Our towers at Thamrin 9 amalgamate the concept of live/work/play as an urban model of living,” said Daniel Dadoyan, KPF Director. “A densely stacked podium comprises a variety of leisure spaces and connects Autograph and Luminary Towers. Both buildings contain Class A office space, serviced apartments, luxury hotels, and public space. An occupiable spire in Autograph Tower offers a unique, intimately scaled observation space that commands stunning views of the city from the tallest tower in Jakarta.”
Anchoring the Thamrin Nine Masterplan
KPF’s towers integrate the large-scale, mixed-use development with the surrounding city fabric in a way that enhances the urban environment by addressing multiple urban scales, from the skyline, to the adjacent buildings, to the pedestrian streetscape. Unlike other developments of this scale in Jakarta, the Autograph and Luminary Towers engage in a clear dialogue with the existing context on site – specifically the adjacent UOB Building – to form a unified complex that creates new public space in what otherwise would be considered urban voids. The “back” of the UOB Building’s podium becomes a “front” for a dynamic plaza, centrally located in the development.
The Autograph and Luminary Towers, and their mixed-use base, further enhance the integrated nature of the Thamrin Nine development, one of only a few mixed-use projects to encompass such a wide range of commercial and residential activities and spaces. In addition to KPF’s work, Thamrin Nine includes Le Parc, The Mansion, The Townhouse, and The Terraces all contributing different typologies. Additionally, The Mews is an intimate and lively space for F&B and socializing defined by the varied edges of Autograph Tower and The Mansion.
City Context
The architecture of KPF’s Autograph and Luminary Towers is a direct response to the development’s position in the local context. Despite being sited behind a row of high-rise buildings along one of Jakarta’s main roads, the two towers present an identifiable skyline presence and a unity with the adjacent city fabric.
The towers’ signature architectural features are the expressed, illuminated volumes of the public observation decks and exhibition spaces which gesture toward key landmarks in the city. The observation box at Autograph Tower looks toward Jakarta’s Central Business District and provides a skyline marker at the gateway to the city’s central Thamrin district, while the volume atop Luminary Tower points to the nearby Bundaran Hi, Jakarta’s primary public space.
Massing, Language, and Scale
The stepped massing of the towers and the heights of the observation boxes address the scale of the adjacent buildings. At the streel level, the podium of Autograph Tower is expressed as a volume punctured by apertures, which define a pedestrian scale as the tower meets the ground. The voids also offer shaded semi-outdoor spaces which extend public uses such as restaurants, animating the streetscape. The expression of the tower as pinwheeling glass planes breaks down its solidity, and differentiates the facade through carefully positioned reveals.
Observation Boxes
The notion of connectivity for the public extends vertically to the iconic observation boxes, which offer expansive views of the city. In Autograph Tower, outdoor decks are situated at level 58 on top of the box, and on the terraces two floors below. A “skywalk” projects beneath the box, setting up a dramatic open-air promenade for thrill-seekers, who will be tethered to the building as they view the city from a platform cantilevering 250 meters above the ground. Similarly, in Luminary Tower, levels 56 and 57 offer observation platforms situated within the clear glass box of the crown.
Sustainability
The entire project is targeting Greenmark certification, while the office portion of Autograph Tower is pursuing Greenmark Platinum certification. The project employs several design strategies to achieve energy efficiency and sustainable design.
The offset cores of the towers block over half of the west facing façade, protecting against the harsh western exposure – the least favored given the climate of Jakarta – to reduce heat gain and energy loads. High performance glass along with deep horizontal shading elements used throughout the tower facade yield an overall ETTV value of under 40watts/sm.
The footprint of Autograph Tower is recaptured as green space within the building and the new plaza fronting the lobby. Vertical green walls animate the recessed balconies at the base of the tower and the west façade of the podium fronting the development’s residential component, creating an interstitial garden for residents. Green walls also act as feature elements at the tower rooftop where a public promenade and the hotel pool are situated.
KPF Expertise
Autograph Tower, as well as Luminary Tower and the connecting retail building, expand on KPF’s presence in Jakarta. This prestigious project adds to KPF’s portfolio of supertall towers and complex, integrated, mixed-use developments around the globe, including the 395-meter-tall 30 Hudson Yards, home to the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, Edge, which is connected to its shorter paired tower, 10 Hudson Yards, by a mixed-use podium; Lotte World Tower, a 555-meter-tall building organized around a stacked mixed-use program, comprising retail, office, officetel, and a 7-star luxury hotel; CITIC Tower, the tallest tower in Beijing with an iconic form inspired by the Zun; and One Vanderbilt, Midtown Manhattan’s second tallest office tower which features a direct connection to the city’s transit infrastructure and offers a public observation deck on its upper floors.