Merdeka 118, the World’s Second-Tallest Building, Is Inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur
The 678.9-metre tower beside the stadium where Malaysia's independence was proclaimed was officially opened on 10 January 2024. Only the Burj Khalifa is taller.
Merdeka 118 was officially inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur on 10 January 2024. At 678.9 metres it is the second-tallest building in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the tallest in Southeast Asia. It has 118 storeys above ground.
The name and the site
Merdeka is the Malay word for independence. The tower stands beside Stadium Merdeka, the open-air stadium where, on 31 August 1957, the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, proclaimed the independence of Malaya and led the crowd in seven shouts of the word. The stadium and its neighbour, Stadium Negara, have been restored as part of the project.
The owner is PNB, the state-linked investment fund. The cost was about five billion ringgit. Ground was broken in July 2014, the structure reached its full height in November 2021 and was completed two years later.
The design
The architects were Fender Katsalidis of Melbourne, with RSP of Kuala Lumpur. The tower is a faceted crystal of glass, made up of triangular planes that catch the light differently through the day. The pattern of the facets is drawn from the diamond motifs of songket, the brocade of the Malay courts. The spire, which accounts for the last 160 metres, is said to recall the raised arm of the Tunku at the moment of the proclamation.
What is in it
The middle of the tower holds offices, and the national bank, Maybank, has moved its headquarters there. In 2026 the building was officially renamed the Merdeka Maybank Tower.
The upper floors, from level 75 to level 112, are occupied by Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, which opened on 7 August 2025. Above the hotel is the observation deck, The View at 118, on two levels at about 500 and 566 metres, the highest in Southeast Asia. A shopping centre, 118 Mall, occupies the podium, and a park of 1.6 hectares has been laid out around the base.
The skyline
Kuala Lumpur now has three towers among the tallest in the world. The Petronas Towers, at 452 metres, held the world record from 1998 to 2004 and remain the symbol of the city. The Exchange 106, in the financial district, was completed in 2019. Merdeka 118 is half as tall again as the Petronas pair and stands on the edge of the old Chinatown, some distance from the others, so that it appears in almost every view of the city.
For travellers
The tower is a short walk from Petaling Street and the temples and shophouses of Chinatown, and has a station on the metro. The observation deck opened later than the building, and opening days, hours and ticket prices are on the official site of The View at 118. The best view of the tower itself is from the streets of the old town at dusk.
Elsewhere in the city, the Waldorf Astoria has announced an opening in 2026, and Four Seasons stands beside the Petronas Towers. The city’s coffee shops are covered in our guide to breakfast in a kopitiam.