Five frontrunners in contest

Published by The Star • 21/01/2020

Chow and representatives of the five finalists looking at a placard listing the names of the companies shortlisted.

FIVE international teams have been shortlisted to design the three reclaimed islands known as Penang South Islands (PSI) near Teluk Kumbar.

The finalists, each comprising a foreign company and a Malaysian partner, are Bjarke Ingels (Denmark) with Hijjas Architects and Planners, Foster + Partners (United Kingdom) with GDP Architects Sdn Bhd, MVRDV (Netherlands) with aLM Architects, Tekuma Frenchman Urban Design (United States) with Eowon Architects, and UN Studio (Netherlands) with Architects 61 Sdn Bhd.

They outshone 27 others in the RM2.5mil Masterplan Design Competition (MDC) launched in November last year.

There were 124 Registration of Interest (ROI) submitted for the competition.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the five teams were picked based on their capability and experience in similar projects and a honorarium of US$125,000 (RM508,000) would be paid to each of them.

“One design will be selected from the five next month.

“The winning team will lead the masterplan design for the proposed three islands,” said Chow during a press conference at The Top @ Komtar on Thursday.

The competition is a Penang government’s initiative in collaboration with the Malaysian Institute of Architects Northern Chapter under the Board of Architects Malaysia.

Under the PSI project, the state is proposing to reclaim 1,821ha of the sea on three man-made islands south of Penang International Airport towards the east around Permatang Damar Laut to create a land bank to fund the Penang Transport Master Plan.

PSI will provide a transformation of Penang’s growth engines and prepare the state for Industry Revolution 4.0.

It will incorporate smart city and smart park features to help the state remain an international destination for investment, industrial manufacturing and tourism.

As an integrated sustainable development, PSI will emphasise economic, environmental and social aspects, aligned with the Penang 2030 vision.

Chow said the winner would get to propose the names for the islands and help the state decide the type of activities to be carried out on the islands.

“The three islands will provide affordable housing as well as public and private amenities, with 4.6km of public beaches over 243ha of parks and 25km of waterfront promenades,” he said.

Chow also said a Master Jury panel would begin deliberations on the finalists’ proposals next month.

The deadline for the design submission is April 8.

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