via Khmer NZ
Thursday, 02 September 2010 15:00 Soeun Say and Catherine James
PRIME Minister Hun Sen yesterday outlined plans to build a 555-metre-tall tower on Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island.
The structure, if built today, would be the second-tallest in the world, according to Post research.
“Cambodia will build the tallest private building in Asia,” the premier said at the graduation ceremony for the Human Resources University, held at the National Institute of Education.
He said talks about the construction and value of the project would be held with ministries, institutions and authorities. If built, the high-rise would dwarf the Kingdom’s tallest skyscraper, 118.1 metre Canadia Tower.
Discounting towers now under construction, it would be the second-tallest in the world, overtaking Taiwan’s Taipei 101 tower at 509 metres. The world’s tallest building is Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower, standing 828 metres.
Dennis Poon, managing principal of Thornton Tomasetti, who led the structural engineering team for the design of Taipei 101, estimated that costs for a building of this size would range from US$500 million to $900 million, depending on complexity. He said designing such a building could take a year, with another four years for construction.
Representatives for developer Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp – the firm behind Canadia Tower – said that plans were already afoot.
Touch Samnang, project manager and architect of OCIC’s Diamond Island, said that the company was preparing for construction and had an architectural proposal in place.
“We are studying the land,” he said, and the firm planned to spend $200 million on the building’s first step. “We have enough possible [capital investment] to build. We are not looking for investment partners. But for the technical construction we will need [help] from abroad.”
“We’re looking for a construction company to build it,” he said, and highlighted Korean firms’ expertise.
The building would house commercial areas such as shopping and exhibition centres, residential space and an observation area, Samnang said.
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