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Happened as dated, per the source[1]: "When its spire was completed in 2022, it took the building's height up above 600-metres."- Start
- Dec 31, 202290% CONFIDENCEsource
Merdeka 118's Spire Completes as World's Second Tallest
Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka 118 topped out with its spire in place, reaching 678.9m to become the world's second-tallest building and one of only four megatall skyscrapers on Earth.
- Merdeka 118's spire was completed in December 2022; the structure itself was completed in November 2023, after the concrete core topped out in August 2020 and the building topped out in November 2021[2]
- The finished tower stands 678.9 m (2,227 ft) over 118 storeys in the Merdeka Precinct of Kuala Lumpur, described as the second-tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa and the tallest in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, surpassing Landmark 81[2]. The B1M titles its films "Building the World's Second Tallest Skyscraper"[1] and, in 2021, "Building the World's Last Megatall Skyscraper", calling Merdeka PNB118 "the second tallest building ever constructed - and the world's last megatall skyscraper"[3]
- The developer is Permodalan Nasional Berhad, on a budget of RM5 billion that drew public criticism; the project was announced by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi on 12 September 2007[2]
- Construction ran on an RM3.4 billion contract awarded on 23 November 2015 to a Samsung C&T and UEM Group joint venture, with work halted on 18 March 2020 by the COVID-19 Movement Control Order and resumed in mid-May 2020; engineers were Leslie E. Robertson Associates, Robert Bird Group and Arup, with Turner International as project management consultant[2]
- The design is inspired by Tunku Abdul Rahman's outstretched hand chanting "Merdeka!" in 1957, with a diamond-shaped glass facade of 18,144 panels covering 114,000 sq m and 400,000 sq m of space; KONE supplies about 87 elevators and escalators[2], and is the promoted partner of the B1M video in which Fred Mills "travels to the top of Malaysia's Merdeka 118"[1]
- The B1M's 2021 film gives special thanks to PNB Merdeka Ventures and Fender Katsalidis Architects[3]
- Occupation lagged the structure: the grand opening on 10 January 2024 was inaugurated by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong but the tower did not open to the public as scheduled, the Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur began operating on levels 75 to 112 on 7 August 2025, and the rest "remains far behind schedule as of 1 July 2026"; the tower was renamed Merdeka Maybank Tower in July 2026 for anchor tenant Maybank[2]
Cost MYR 5B (≈$1.1B)