THE 52-storey Equatorial Plaza located along Jalan Sultan Ismail had a grand opening on Nov 19.
The iconic building is an integrated development comprising premium Grade A+ office space and a 5-star hotel.
It stands on the same spot as the old Hotel Equatorial in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle.
The newly transformed Equatorial Plaza has over one million square feet gross floor area, featuring a new generation specification office building across 23 levels.
The old building was torn down in 2012 to give way to a new swanky building, completed seven years, after, in 2019.
On the top floors, the new Equatorial Plaza houses EQ Kuala Lumpur which officially opened in March this year.
Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad is the owner of the office tower while Hotel Equatorial (M) Sdn Bhd owns and operates EQ Kuala Lumpur.
The striking new building designed by Malaysia’s award-winning GDP Architects features some of the latest energy-saving technology, which earned it a “Green Building Index” (GBI) Gold Certification.
“Equatorial Plaza has a commercial aspect as well as a hotel. The first 28 floors is dedicated to office space. It is equipped with the latest technology and is located in the center of a business district. It is actually a green building and is the first combined complex, which has received awards and was even voted as the best new hotel in the Asia Pacific region,” said EQ Kuala Lumpur general manager Robert Rick Lagerwey.
“EQ is a re-birth of the iconic Hotel Equatorial. We took down the old hotel and re-built it – it is a ‘little bit’ tall and swanky, but it still has the DNA of Hotel Equatorial,” added Lagerwey.
The Equatorial Plaza is easily accessible with a monorail station a stone’s throw away, and the MRT located 700m away. The building also has over 1,000 parking bays.
The grand opening began with a lion dance performance followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was graced by Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad CEO Datuk Koh Yaw Hui, Hotel Equatorial Group chairman Datuk Lim Kong Wai, Great Eastern chairman Norman Ip Ka Cheung, Great Eastern directors Khor Hock Seng, Tan Yam Pin, Ng Hon Soon and David Siew Kah Toong, and Hotel Equatorial Group directors Charles Lim, Lim Kong Yong and Donald Lim.
The building won the CIDB/Malaysian Construction Industry Best Project – Major Buildings Award 2019 and also emerged the winner of the Best New Hotel Asia Pacific 2019 at the Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards.
The EQ Kuala Lumpur also picked up three nominations for Best Interior Design in the Food and Beverage Category at the upcoming REKA Awards Malaysia .
TripAdvisor.com has listed EQ Kuala Lumpur in first place among hotels in Kuala Lumpur within the first six months of its operation.
