YTL Headquarters

UNIFYING PRESENCE YTL is a large Malaysian conglomerate, whose 1000 key staff across 12 departments (each with its own culture and operations), are housed under 1 roof, for the first time. The brief was to provide a unifying presence on the shared floors, portraying a unified spatial identity for their staff to align with. We sought to create a series of choreographed spatial experiences which balance respecting YTL’s legacy of corporate professionalism, infused with a future-forward attitude that embraces change. At the Ground Floor, visitors are greeted by a vertically cavernous lobby which spans more than 25-meters in height (7 floors). The design challenge was how to enhance the majestic quality of the space, yet not dwarf the human scale and provide a welcoming entrance. As such, the lobby is a study in proportion, light control and a disciplined use of materials. The soaring space has been designed to capture the rays of light in the daytime, and glow like a lantern in the evening. We designed the marble-clad columns such that its rhythm is denser and more grounded at the bottom, yet getting lighter towards the top, giving the impression of ascending lightness, and inserted horizontal striations using bronze accents to provide visual relief rather than a continuous ascension to the top. A glittering art installation hovers like a cloud over a series of pavilion niches, which provide a sense of human scale in this vast space. Titled “Leaves”, this hanging art sculpture features similar bronze accents, and is fabricated by Studio Sawada. Visitors can indicate the destination floor number at the lift call button area before entering the lift lobby (incorporating a “destination-dispatching” elevator system), before entering a bronze-clad “portal” to arrive at the Lift Lobby, which is accented with the same bronze metal as the main lobby for a consistently disciplined material palette. Levels 8-10 provide a variety of meeting spaces for YTL staff and external visitors, anchored by a café counter as the “heart” of the communal area, serving up confectionaries and coffee. To introduce connectivity between Levels 8 and 9, we introduced a void and a feature spiral stair, designing an arresting and dynamic cage-like stair with vertical rods made of powder-coated bronze metal and leather handrails, sitting on a bed of black gravel. Ranging from casual café tables, semi-enclosed & enclosed rooms, to large multi-function conference rooms, the spaces are designed with a warm and sophisticated palette, with bronze powder coated metal, oak timber, grey granite, silver mink marble floors and tactile leather furniture. The café, banquette and booth seating are upholstered in German-based innovative fabric from Saum & Viebahn whose “magic” range features high quality fabrics built for high-usage and easy maintenance. The tables feature either striking black Nero Marquina marble or elegant white Calacatta marble. The enclosed meeting rooms feature handsome carpet flooring from the Net Effect Collection, elegant brown leather chairs and timber tables.