Tall & Urban News

Autograph Tower, a 383-meter-tall, skyline-defining building in Jakarta, recently topped out, marking the latest milestone in the construction of the Thamrin Nine mixed-use development. Along with the neighboring Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed Luminary Tower and connecting mixed-use podium, the integrated buildings accommodate a number of programs and create an active hub for the development. The most visible elements of Thamrin Nine, the two towers occupy a prominent site in the city, located between the Old City to the north – including one of Jakarta’s most significant historic venues, the iconic Bundaran Hi Monument – and the city’s Central Business District to the south.

“It’s been very exciting to have been involved in the formation of the towers at Thamrin Nine and we couldn’t be prouder to reach this important milestone,” said Robert Whitlock FAIA, KPF Design Principal. “Our design for the project as an integrated live, work, stay, play destination at the fundamental heart of Jakarta builds upon KPF’s experience creating place-centric mixed-use destinations around the world. With the unique mix of program types, the connections to public transportation and the provision of public open space, we think this project will advance the goal of furthering Jakarta’s place as one of the world’s great cities.”

Standing above neighboring high-rise buildings, Autograph and Luminary Towers are significant additions to the Jakarta skyline. The three buildings step up in height from the low-level retail podium, to the 300-meter Luminary Tower, and culminate at Autograph Tower.

“Jakarta has long been one of our favorite places to work,” said Peter Gross, KPF Managing Principal. “Over the course of 30 years, and numerous projects, we have been able to design buildings that engage and respond to Jakarta’s unique architectural character. With the recently completed Sequis Tower, and now the prominent Autograph Tower, we are honored to have been able to contribute to the city’s urban life and skyline.”

Layered like vertical cities, both towers integrate a range of public and private functions including office, hotel, retail, cultural, hospitality, academic, athletic, and public space. Four illuminated observation decks cantilever off the glass structures, addressing key landmarks and establishing a significant presence in the city. The tower crowns also feature dramatic public observation decks with restaurants, as well as semi-private spaces serving the luxury hotel and residential spaces on their upper floors.

“Our towers at Thamrin 9 amalgamate the concept of live/work/play as an urban model of living,” said Daniel Dadoyan, KPF Director. “A densely stacked podium comprises a variety of leisure spaces and connects Autograph and Luminary Towers. Both buildings contain Class A office space, serviced apartments, luxury hotels, and public space. An occupiable spire in Autograph Tower offers a unique, intimately scaled observation space that commands stunning views of the city from the tallest tower in Jakarta.”

The towers integrate the large-scale, mixed-use development with the surrounding city fabric in a way that enhances the urban environment by addressing multiple urban scales, from the skyline, to the adjacent buildings, to the pedestrian streetscape. Unlike other developments of this scale in Jakarta, the Autograph and Luminary Towers engage in a clear dialogue with the existing context on site – specifically the adjacent UOB Building – to form a unified complex that creates new public space in what otherwise would be considered urban voids. The “back” of the UOB Building’s podium becomes a “front” for a dynamic plaza, centrally located in the development.
The Autograph and Luminary Towers, and their mixed-use base, further enhance the integrated nature of the Thamrin Nine development, one of only a few mixed-use projects to encompass such a wide range of commercial and residential activities and spaces. 

The towers’ signature architectural features are the expressed, illuminated volumes of the public observation decks and exhibition spaces which gesture toward key landmarks in the city. The observation box at Autograph Tower looks toward Jakarta’s Central Business District and provides a skyline marker at the gateway to the city’s central Thamrin district, while the volume atop Luminary Tower points to the nearby Bundaran Hi, Jakarta’s primary public space.

The stepped massing of the towers and the heights of the observation boxes address the scale of the adjacent buildings. At the streel level, the podium of Autograph Tower is expressed as a volume punctured by apertures, which define a pedestrian scale as the tower meets the ground. The voids also offer shaded semi-outdoor spaces which extend public uses such as restaurants, animating the streetscape. The expression of the tower as pinwheeling glass planes breaks down its solidity, and differentiates the façade through carefully positioned reveals.

The notion of connectivity for the public extends vertically to the iconic observation boxes, which offer expansive views of the city. In Autograph Tower, outdoor decks are situated at level 58 on top of the box, and on the terraces two floors below. A “skywalk” projects beneath the box, setting up a dramatic open-air promenade for thrill-seekers, who will be tethered to the building as they view the city from a platform cantilevering 250 meters above the ground. Similarly, in Luminary Tower, levels 56 and 57 offer observation platforms situated within the clear glass box of the crown.

The entire project is targeting Greenmark certification, while the office portion of Autograph Tower is pursuing Greenmark Platinum certification. The project employs several design strategies to achieve energy efficiency and sustainable design.

The offset cores of the towers block over half of the west facing façade, protecting against the harsh western exposure – the least favored given the climate of Jakarta – to reduce heat gain and energy loads. High performance glass along with deep horizontal shading elements used throughout the tower façade yield an overall ETTV value of under 40watts/sm.

The footprint of Autograph Tower is recaptured as green space within the building and the new plaza fronting the lobby. Vertical green walls animate the recessed balconies at the base of the tower and the west façade of the podium fronting the development’s residential component, creating an interstitial garden for residents. Green walls also act as feature elements at the tower rooftop where a public promenade and the hotel pool are situated.

For more on this story, go Kohn Pederson Fox.