[Jilawatan]

Designed by: NESPAK
Status: Underconstruction
Developers: Ministry of Telecom & IT
Contractors: M.A. Aleem Khan & Sons Pvt. Ltd [MAAKSONS]
Building Type: Corporate
Height: + 240 FT
Floors Above Ground:24
Floors Under Ground: 3
Office Floors: 24
Parking Floors: 3
Location: Block J, Jinnah Avenue, F-7, Blue Area, Islamabad

Satellite View:





Render:


Description:

Telecom tower has now surpassed the ISE Tower and Habib Bank Tower, both 19 storeys high, therefore it is the current tallest building in Islamabad. It will hold the title till either the Centaurus or the Grand Hyatt Tower project is completed.

[Jilawatan]

March 2006

Pile Foundation are being dug. There are around 625 piles that are going to be dugged which will be completed in 6-8months.

[Jilawatan]

Prime Minister lays foundation stone of Telecom Tower at Islamabad

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz laid foundation stone of Telecom Tower in Islamabad. NESPAKs winning concept of a 24-storey energy efficient telecom tower was highly appreciated by the Prime Minister.

Mr. Karamat Ullah Chaudry, Managing Director, NESPAK, briefed the Prime Minister on the salient features of eco-friendly design of the tower, which would reduce 30 to 40 percent of the energy cost.

The Prime Minister in his address said that the state-of-the-art tallest building in the Federal Capital would provide quality and world class office space to high tech, telecom and IT industry.

The tower will cover an area of approximately 55,762 sqm with four basements having a spacious car parking facility. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 2.0 billion.

[Jilawatan]

Telecom Tower - Construction work on highest building of Islamabad has started

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz addresses at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Telecom Tower of the Pakistan Telecom Employees Trust, at a local hotel.

ISLAMABAD, September 09 (Online): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has announced that the deregulation process will continue to further stabilize national economy besides establishing the country on modern lines.
He said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the highest telecommunication tower in the federal capital on Thursday.

Prime Minister held that various sectors of economy were flourishing due to the deregulation policy being pursued by the government. " Our telecom sector is fast making headway. Although certain elements were opposed to the privatization of PTCL. But this sector has further developed in the wake of deregulation process. It will lead to boost the business, he underlined.

He went on to say that six mobile companies were operating at present and every company had paid $291 million to Pakistan under the license head.

He maintained that the government was following credible reforms agenda. The number of mobile phone set holders stand at 13 million now in the country. About one Lakh consumers add to the them every month. Pakistan now stands next to China in telecom sector, he indicated. The investors are evincing keen interest to make investment in this field, he added. The phone calls rates have come down considerably following the creation of climate of competitiveness in the country. The consumers are benefiting from it," he underscored.

Citing to telecommunication tower project he said it is a mega project. If the construction work is carried out with planning, it can save 30 percent energy. More buildings on this fashion will be constructed in federal capital. The prices of land will further escalate in Islamabad in the next fifteen years. Therefore we will construct high rise building to make up for the deficiency of land, he stated.
Prime Minister pointed out that country was facing shortage of technical experts and every sector was complaining about it. Government was taking solid measures to ensure provision of technical experts to this country. Vocational training institutes were being set up in this connection, he told.

He noted that construction work and real state are the key means of employment for the people. Government was using all the available resources to curb the menace of unemployment.

Minister for information technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said that plot was acquired from CDA ten year back for the construction of tele tower. However the process of construction was stalled due to lack of funds, he indicated. With the sincere efforts of the Prime Minister, the construction work on this highest building of Islamabad has started and the tower would be completed within the two and a half year span of time.
Information technology ministry was fully alive to its obligations, he said adding this tower would cater to our needs.

Outlining the salient features of tower he said that the 24-story tele tower Pakistan would be constructed under Pakistan Telecom Employees trust. The offices of IT, Telecom, high tech and PTCL will be set up in this tower, he informed. The tower will have four basements and its standard will match with that of international buildings. 25 companies will build this tower.

[Jilawatan]

[Khuree]

[Waqar]

Very nice update on this one I like the design and everything about this project cool update guy's nice work done by you alot.. just one question why is it taking for ever to finish the top part of this project ?

I mean first pics I have seen in 2005 second ones 2006 nothing much has changed how come why so slow paces ?

[Abdullah Hayat]

Salam,

I think once completed, this building may turn out to be a good design. I don't really think the above picture is reflective of this project. I mean, for one thing.... I don't see the building in the picture to be of 24 stories. But, this may be because the rendering is not made to the scale. I really hope this tower turns out to be exceptionally good looking, as we will have to project the telecom tower to attract foreign investment.

With 24 stories, it probably is pretty good for Islamabad's landscape. Does any body know the number of floors for other tall buildings in Islamabad on that main boulevard?

Peace.

[Tekno Arkitect]

Construction Pix July 2006

Site Billboard


Work on Pile Foundation seems to be completed. The raft which will be 4 to 6 feet thick is being made.




Render updated above~!

[Alam]

Construction of high-rise building in Blue Area stopped

By Muhammad Anis

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) Wednesday stopped construction of a high-rise building in Blue Area claiming the structure was being raised without prior approval of design from the authority.

A CDA official told 'The News' the developers of the building previously were served notices asking them to get design vetted and approved by the competent authority. "Previously, we served a number of notices to the developers of 24-storied Pak Telecom but they paid no heed to warnings," he said.

According to new building, released by the government and CDA, every high-rise building in Islamabad should be constructed according to Seismic Zone-3. For this purpose, the structural design be approved by the CDA and or recognised structural engineers and consultants.

The CDA sources said the construction of Pak Telecom Tower was suspended with the approval of senior official who also okayed the operation to stop work till design of the building is okayed by the Building Control Section.

The sources said the developers were allowed only to carry excavation work as their building plan also included four basements but they also started raising structure. "The construction work will be allowed only when they submit their proposed design to the building control section and gets its approval," an official said.

[Abdullah Hayat]

Salam,

How can you start a major construction without approval and conformation with building control codes and guidelines! We just had a worst earthquake in Islamabad, and still people aren't paying attention to details.

I really hope that there are no flaws with the design after an honest review and inspection. This building must be built! I hope it doesn't hit the kind'of snags that a lot of projects get hit with.

Peace.

[Skyscraper_guy]

merijanpakistan, on Jul 15 2006, 05:32 AM, said:

Salam,

I think once completed, this building may turn out to be a good design. I don't really think the above picture is reflective of this project. I mean, for one thing.... I don't see the building in the picture to be of 24 stories. But, this may be because the rendering is not made to the scale. I really hope this tower turns out to be exceptionally good looking, as we will have to project the telecom tower to attract foreign investment.

With 24 stories, it probably is pretty good for Islamabad's landscape. Does any body know the number of floors for other tall buildings in Islamabad on that main boulevard?

Peace.

In the Blue Area the buildings range from 16-19 stories....so the building of telecom tower (24 storeys), ISE Twin Towers (25 storeys) and the Centaurus (37 storeys) will give a huge boost to Islamabad's skyline.

[Abdullah Hayat]

Salam,

Thanks SscGuy. I had wondered about those buildings in Islamabad.

Since I am not from Islamabad... and have visited Islamabad very rarely in my life (last time, 7-8 years back), can you tell me exactly which area is called Blue Area, to be precise?? I hear that terms so much that i feel like its the "downtown islamabad", but don't really know. I tried to look at Google Earth image to see if it says any thing about "blue area". No such luck.

Peace.

[Skyscraper_guy]

Blue Area is basically the area between the sectors G-6, G-7, F-6 and F-7, and it leads straight up to the presidency. It includes Jinnah Avenue along with 2 other roads, one is Fazal something road and the other one is Nazim somethign road. I'm not sure which one of these roads is at the westren side of Blue Area and which one is at the eastren side. As you might already know it includes the buildings of major pakistani banks such as Habib bank, UBL etc

[Tekno Arkitect]

Blue Area has two phases. Phase one starts from the presidency which is sector F-5/G-5 and end at ends at F.10/G.10 Roundabout making about 8km-10km. The main road running is called the Jinnah Avenue which makes a junction with Constitutional Avenue right infront of the Presidency. Two roads run parrallel with Jinnah Avenue, namely Fazl-e-Haq Road running btw Jinnah Avenue & G Sector and Nazim-ud-din Road running btw Jinnah Avenue & F Sector. The Blue area is a commercial zone which can b called the Downtown Area of Islamabad aswell. There is another zone in Isb called the Mauve Area. It runs btw the Kashmir Highway & G Sector I&T (Industrial & Trade) Market. Ill mark these locations onto a google image to make the locations more clear.

[Abdullah Hayat]

Salam,

Thanks SscGuy n Techno! It would really be nice to see them on Google, Techno. Thanks for doing that.

Peace.

[Waqar]

any more pics Techno thanks ?

[Suhaib]

i think this tower is butt ugly a needs a new design asap.

[Red aRRow]

Tower design seems to be ok except for the roof. I mean this is supposed to be a telecom tower where supposedly telecom companies will make their offices in the future. Thus the roof should have been made 'antennae' friendly by either making it flat with easy access or with the provisions of towers on the top for installation of telecom paraphernalia, satellite dishes etc. The current design with the spikes sticking out is totally unpractical...even though it looks cool.

And why the hell did these a*holes start construction without approval by CDA...even though we have lost thousands of lives in an earthquake just one year ago?? Talk about retarded.

[Tekno Arkitect]

hmm.....good point btw but i cant comment on the spikes yet since the dimension are not so clear in the render. Maybe if the spikes are thick enough satelite dishes and other devices could be easily attached to it. Right now it might be too early to comment on it.