KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) is organising a global design competition to pick the best architectural design for a signature tower in the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD).

The KLIFD development is on a 75-acre (30ha) site in between Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Sultan Ismail and the Putrajaya elevated highway.

The competition, organised under the auspices of the International Union of Architects, aims to attract collaborations between local and world-renowned architects to reap cutting edge innovation and creativity on a global level in designing the Signature Tower. The competition aims find the design that best reflects the aspiration for the Signature Tower to be the centrepiece building sited on a prime location within KLIFD.

The competition was announced in a joint statement by PAM and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the master developer of KLIFD, yesterday. 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd (1MDB RE) deputy CEO (operations) Datuk Azmar Talib said, “We are delighted that PAM has joined us in this economic transformation initiative to build the KLIFD for the world.”

“This is the fusion of local and global talent which we seek at every step of the way,” he added. 1MDB RE, the competition promoter, is a wholly owned subsidiary of 1MDB.

“PAM promotes design excellence and encourages more developers to emulate 1MDB in achieving world-class standards,” said PAM president Saifuddin Ahmad.

The competition is open to architects worldwide. Under the pre-qualification stage 1, all PAM corporate members are invited to submit pre-qualification documents no later than 4pm on March 22.

A minimum of 12 teams will be shortlisted and invited to participate in the international design competition. The selected teams will be announced on April 5 and entries must be submitted by May 24.

Under stage 1, the criteria for selection are organisation capability statement; qualifications of key personnel and team organisation; experiences of firm or firms in collaboration; similar related past and current projects especially on signature/landmark towers; and international and national winning projects and awards received.

The selected teams will receive an honorarium of US$25,000 (RM75,500) on submission of a bona fide entry. In the final stage, an international jury of seven members will select five winning schemes and each scheme will be awarded US$50,000.

1MDB RE may then invite the winners to present their projects in person with a view to select the team that will realise the project.  For further details, visit www.pam.org.my/klifd

This article appeared on the Property page, The Edge Financial Daily, February 24, 2012.