PGCC - Penang Global City Center

Asymptote's design for the new PGCC complex incorporates two iconic, sixty-story luxury residential towers onto a plynth that houses a five-star hotel, the new Penang Performing Arts Center (PenPAC), a high-end retail and entertainment complex, a new convention center and a vast new public space that serves as a public forecourt to the PGCC.
The PGCC development is designed to be a included in the more ambitious and grand masterpan for teh entire Northern Corridor of Malaysia thereby helping create a new exciting and forward looking image for the City of Penang.
The PGCC's large commercial plinth is a platform for its two iconic towers and accommodates a variety of public spaces that overlook the city connect to the upper level programs

including the performing arts center, convention center, hotel, residences and office space. The PGCC towers are unique architecturally in that they are horizontal as well as vertical elements: horizontal structures span across the upper surfaces of the plinth and transition to vertical towers that rise up to create a dynamic composition with the nature reserve of Penang Hill as lush green backdrop.
The distinct patterns achieved by the louver system created by utilizing a high performance louver system and though there delicate interweaving and use of arabesque like geometries achieve a local flavor culturally. This articulation not only is environmentally responcive but gives the towers and plynth a unique identity while contributing to the environmental performance of the buildings. Combined with the towers' twisting, these unique glass façades create optical effects that vary depending on one's viewpoint and amplify the dynamic iconic quality of the PGCC's architecture.
Set against a lush natural backdrop of the Penang hills, the architectural concept aims to reconcile contemporary urban forms with the adjacent natural landscape.