Grand Rama 9 Tower is a megatall skyscraper under construction in Bangkok, Thailand, the building will become the tallest building in Thailand and the whole southeast Asia.
Below are some information and facts about Grand Rama 9 Tower.
Name: Grand Rama 9 Tower (In Thai: พระราม 9 ทาวเวอร์)
The tower was initially known as Rama IX Super Tower when it was first proposed, the name was changed to Grand Rama 9 Tower as Arabic numerals is more recognizable than Roman numerals, the words Rama IX or Rama 9 is taken from the name of the road which the tower will sit on, the road is named after the former King Rama IX. The word Grand is taken from its developer, Grand Canal Land.
The name is not final and a naming competition will be held later.
Height: 615 meters (2018 ft)
Grand Rama 9 Tower is planned to rise to 2018 ft or 615 meters high, this number was designed to correspond to the initially planned completion year.
The tower will surpass the 314-meter-tall MahaNakhon, the current tallest building in Bangkok (by roof height), to become the new tallest building in the country. Below is a comparison diagram showing the height difference between Grand Rama 9 Tower and New York's Empire State Building.
If built in 2018, Grand Rama 9 Tower would become the tallest building in Southeast Asia, and 3rd tallest building in the world. However, the expected completion date had been delayed to 2021, by that time, Grand Rama 9 Tower may still become Southeast Asia's the tallest building if the Merdeka PNB 118 in Malaysia is complete later, but in worldwide many other towers will be built higher than it, so it will not be ranked into one of the top 5 tallest buildings in the world, maybe 6th or 7th tallest by 2021.
Grand Rama 9 Tower doesn't contain any decorative spires on the top to increase height, but parapet will top off the building, the roof is not fully covered by the parapet, from some angles, the real roof of the building is seen exposed, appearing shorter than 2000 ft as the roof is at 590 meters high, but from some other perspectives, the roof is hidden behind the parapet, making it look like a solid 2018-ft building.
Location:
The address of the building is Grand Square, Rama IX Road, Huai Khwang, Bangkok, Thailand.
Grand Rama 9 Tower will be built at the heart of the Bangkok’s newest CBD.
The building will have a direct MRT connection and only 500 meters away from an expressway exit. A six-lane private road linking Rama IV and Rachadapise will be passing the site of the building.
The construction site of the tower is 5.7 km northeast of MahaNakhon, current tallest building in the city, and 2.9 km east of Baiyoke Tower II, the former tallest building, and 8.1 km east of the Grand Palace, the most well-known attraction in the city.
The most iconic building near Grand Rama 9 Tower is the G Tower, which resembles the letter G.
Uses: Office, Residential, Hotel, Observation
Grand Rama 9 will be mixed-use, the podium of the tower will be rent out to retail stores and restaurants, the lower section of the tower will be used for offices, which is said to be Thailand’s first 24-hour office facilities, the office spaces occupy a total of 90,000 square meters, the midsection of the tower will be occupied by serviced apartments, the upper floors will be reserved for a six star hotel that has 260 rooms.
The top floor will have an enclosed observation deck for tourism.
It is estimated that after opening the tower will serve over 300,000 people daily.
Design:
Grand Rama 9 Tower is designed by Architects 49 Ltd, a Bangkok based architectural firm that has designed many modern buildings in Thailand, the developer G Land has also hired the renowned American architectural firm, Skidmore, Owing & Merrill, as its design consultant.
Grand Rama 9 Tower is designed to be Eco-friendly and energy-efficient, it will be certified as platinum level of US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).
The building will have 125 floors, the total floor space of the building is 320,000-square meters, including 90,000 square meters of office space, the area of office space is only second to the Empire Tower at 150,000 square meters.
The mixed-use project will offer 90,000 square meters of office space.
The appearance of Grand Rama 9 Tower is kind of similar to the proposed Pertamina Tower in Jakarta shown in the picture below.
Grand Rama 9 Tower is quite colossal viewed from the front, but its lateral sides are much skinnier.
Development:
On October 14, 2014, Thailand real estate developer Grand Canal Land (G land) unveiled the plan for a 615-meter megatall skyscraper, which would be built on a 11.7 hectares (28.9 acres) plot of the Grand Rama 9 development site, the skyscraper is designed to have 125 stories and will become the tallest building in Southeast Asia, developer intends to make it a national landmark in Thailand.
The project is estimated to cost 18 billion baht (US $554 million), the major lenders for the project are some local banks in Thailand.
The developer initially expected a completion date in 2018, but the date has been postponed to 2021, and the building will not open until 2022.
The preparation work on construction site started in 2017, construction was expected to begin in mid 2018, but didn't happen. Only soil test is complete as of mid 2019, the project is currently on hold.
In contrast to buildings in Malaysia and some other Southeast Asia countries where foreign companies are contracted for constructions, all the construction works of the Grand Rama 9 Tower will be done and managed by the local companies in Thailand.
Tourism:
Grand Rama 9 Tower will include an enclosed observation tower on the top floor that opens to tourists. The observation deck will be at a height of above 580 meters from the ground, it will become the world's highest observation deck, as compared to current existing observation decks in the world. Aside from the enclosed observatory, the tower will also have a rooftop garden, providing 360 degree aerial view of the city of Bangkok.
