Kelana Jaya LRT "Tunnel in the Air", Kuala Lumpur – 363 ETFE Cushion Cladding
General information
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Home page
https://www.architen.com/projects/kelana-jaya-lrt-tunnel-etfe-cladding/
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Location address
Kelana Jaya LRT Line extension, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Location country
Malaysia
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Year of construction
2016
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Name of the client/building owner
Prasarana Rail and Infrastructure Projects
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Function of building
Vehicle services
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Degree of enclosure
Hybrid structure
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Climatic zone
Tropical - hot and wet all year
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Type of application of the membrane
covering
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Primary function of the tensile structure
- Space defining elements
- Sun protection
Description
Billed as Malaysia's first "tunnel in the air", this enclosed section of the Kelana Jaya Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension in Kuala Lumpur opened in March 2016 for the client, Prasarana Rail and Infrastructure Projects. The elevated, driverless line threads between existing buildings, at one point passing only around 2.5m from a hotel and an apartment block. A twisted lattice of steelwork encloses the track, carrying acoustic panels to absorb train noise, and is clad in around 2,500m² of ETFE cushions that give residents and hotel guests partial visual screening from the railway while turning the tunnel into a landmark beside one of the city's main trunk roads.
The architect wanted a broken-up surface, so the cushions alternate between clear foil and foil printed with a heavy silver frit. Because the tunnel's geometry is irregular, no two of the 363 cushions are the same; some differ by only millimetres, but enough to need individual analysis and patterning. To handle this, Architen Landrell worked with a programmer to develop bespoke software that generated the cut files and aluminium extrusion details for every cushion directly from the model. This removed hours of manual drafting and allowed late design changes to be absorbed quickly.
Installation was equally demanding. The line was being commissioned and went live during the works, so the ETFE track, air supply pipework and cushions were installed from a gantry running along the outside of the steel frame while trains passed through the tunnel below.
Client/building owner: Prasarana Rail and Infrastructure Projects. ETFE foil: Nowofol (NOWOFLON ET 6235Z). ETFE design, engineering, fabrication and installation: Architen Landrell.
Description of the environmental conditions
Every few minutes the driverless Kelana Jaya Light Rail Train (LRT) on an elevated railway squeezes its way through the sea of houses in the conurbation of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. At the narrowest point the track runs less than three metres away from a residential building and a hotel. To protect the residents from the high noise stress, Malaysia's first "tunnel in the air" has been built. It encloses a curved section of the track with 363 film cushions, which are made from the high-performance 3M Dyneon Fluoroplastic ETFE.
Material of the cover
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Cable-net/Fabric/Hybrid/Foil
Foil
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Type (code)
NOWOFLON® ET 6235Z
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Material Fabric/Foil
Nowoflon
Main dimensions and form
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Covered surface (m2)
2500
Duration of use
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Temporary or permanent structure
Permanent
Involved companies
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Engineers
ARCHITEN LANDRELL
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Contractors
ARCHITEN LANDRELL
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Suppliers
NOWOFOL
Editor
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Editor
Evi Corne
