Take cue from Hap Seng: Musa
Published on: Saturday, November 14, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Plantation companies operating in Sabah should take the cue from the Hap Seng Group of Companies and build or renovate structures into eye-catching corporate offices that reflect their presence in the State.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, in commending the Hap Seng Group of Companies for taking the initiative to make its presence felt in the State through the Plaza Shell building, said as a company that has key operations in the State, including in oil palm, the company is in some ways giving back to the society through the new building."For those who have come to this building for the first time, we are pleasantly surprised to note that this upscale office tower with modern architectural design was in fact once, the site of an old swampy Kampung Air, where houses then were built on stilts and zinc roof and washed by the South China Sea.
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"Indeed, the physical transformation and modernisation of Jesselton as it used to be called and now Kota Kinabalu, is indeed mesmerising and the elevation of Kota Kinabalu to become a city, to sum it all," he said.Musa said this when opening the new Kota Kinabalu landmark, the Plaza Shell, owned and operated by Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad on Friday.The building is a purpose-built 14-storey retail and office block with four levels of basement car park, three levels of retail podium and 10 levels of office together with a sky pavilion, with a total gross floor area of approximately 670,000 square feet.It adopts its name from Hap Seng's business partner, Shell Malaysia.
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The building has been conceptualised, designed and constructed as a resource-efficient, high-performing, healthy and cost-effective building, in tandem with Hap Seng's desire to provide a healthy and productive working environment.Plaza Shell features advanced technologies to ensure energy-efficiency in the office space and the little touches on this eco-friendly building make a big step in the upkeep of environmental sustainability.
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"Across the country, we are seeing a growing interest in all things green. Green building or sustainable building refers to the using of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a building life."Green building practices are aimed to reduce the environmental impact. Green building features often include measures to reduce energy and water consumption which are key objectives in sustainable buildings."Of course, there are other several important factors that need to be considered as well. For this to happen, we need to bring the government and private sector together to educate the public to the advantage of living green and find ways to make green buildings economically affordable," said Musa.He congratulated the Hap Seng Group of Companies for having the foresight and the courage to come up with the concept of an almost perfect green building, making Plaza Shell the first of its kind in Sabah.Plaza Shell had been awarded the Silver Certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a set of rating system pertaining to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green building.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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