Philosophy
Concept
The Write-Up
Introduction
Mangkuluhur City is a mixed development located at the Semanggi Interchange in the heart of Jakarta’s
Golden Triangle and Central Business District. The site fronts the main Jalan Gatot Subroto thoroughfare and
is adjacent to the popular Plaza Semanggi mall.
Heart of Jakarta’s
Golden Triangle &
CBD
The Mangkuluhur City project is a multi-faceted one. The square-shaped site is divided into three distinct
zones – hotel, office and residential. The existing 17 storey Crowne Plaza Hotel occupying the hotel zone
undergoes façade improvement and lobby upgrading; façade design recommendations are also given to the
two office towers (35 storey and 50 storey) designed by a local architect; the 1.1ha residential zone,
meanwhile, comprises two new (40 storey & 28 Storey) apartment towers integrated with 3 storeys of
podium retail, designed with respect to its priory established surroundings.
Multi-Faceted
Project
Concept
The Write-Up
Sensitivity to the Context
An analysis of the structural grid of the existing hotel and previously-planned office results in the derivation of
a key dimensional order upon which the new apartment towers are designed. This ensures that the
placement of the apartment towers is always coherent with the rest of the development. It furthermore
brings maximum efficiency to the apartment’s joint basement layout with the office.
Responding to user needs
The multiple phases of the development necessitates an integrating element that will interconnect and build
relationships between the three zones of the masterplan. A central ‘oasis’ is thereby introduced as a unifying
communal space to create and encourage movement between zones.
The central ‘oasis’ features a large elliptical water feature and a complementarily-shaped gardenscape that
generates a fluid pedestrian loop connecting the three zones internally, extending also to the public
pedestrian footpath encircling the site. The central ‘oasis’ also serves as a grand public drop-off that helps to
alleviate traffic concerns at dedicated drop-offs within each individual zone.
Coherent
Dimensional Order
Unifying central
‘oasis’
Fluid pedestrian
loop
Grand public dropoff
Response to Climate
The central ‘oasis’ is conceived with the added intention of providing respite within the high-rise surrounds.
The large water feature and lush garden of the ‘oasis’ brings a cooling effect to the development and offers
breathing space amidst its built environment.
Cooling ‘oasis’
Elegance of Construction & Detail
Glazed towers
The glazed volumetric treatment of the apartment towers is kept simple and elegant, as with the
recommended aesthetics for the adjacent office towers. The hotel’s façade upgrade adopts the same concept,
where its podium is stripped of its solid outlook and given a new full-glass façade to expose the full splendor
of its revamped lobby.
Cradling the central welcoming ‘oasis’, the retail podium is more intricately articulated. A section of its curved
facade is turned into a hive-like feature wall formed out of timber trellises. Sitting in front of this, the garden’s
floating centrepiece – an elliptical pod that houses outdoor F&B seating area, is wrapped in a porous veil of
fine vertical trellises. The podium’s terracing form is also complemented by continuous canopies sweeping
across it, forming layers of horizontal curves that are outwardly expressed against the rest of the podium’s
glazed backdrop. These canopies connect the office to retail podium and through to the hotel, both physically
and visually.
Concept
The Write-Up
Full-glass lobby
façade
Intricately
articulated curved
podium
Physical and visual
connection
Sustainability
The apartment towers are placed perpendicular to each other within the derived dimensional order to
maximize distance and avoid overlooking between towers. This also ensures that the towers are orientated
away from the east-west direction, reducing heat gains within the units. The podium’s arched layout,
meanwhile, negoatiates the space between the towers while bringing maximum daylight into the retail
interiors.
Tower orientation
Daylighting
Originality/Innovation
The central ‘oasis’ can be perceived as a living art piece nestled at the heart of the development. From the
podium and towers above, one is able to appreciate the unique image of a large-scaled world map floating on
its 35m x 20m elliptical water feature, surrounded by the bustle of activities within its communal garden
scape. The ‘oasis’ is a shared vantage point from all three zones of the development that takes it beyond its
physically integrative attributes to a higher experiential level.
The central ‘oasis’ an experiential
living art piece
Masterplan
Overall Perspectives
Aerial View
Aerial View
Perspective – VIEW FROM JL. GATOT SUBROTO
Central Oval Space – F&B PODIUM & HOTEL ENTRANCE