The TRX North West Plaza is about to receive its final finishing touches to complete its new look. Set to be an exciting public space with water features, decorated softscapes, and seating areas, this primary pedestrian gateway into TRX welcome foot traffic from KL’s shopping belt of Bukit Bintang.
In the past year, works at the plaza, now dubbed the Raintree Plaza, have been steadily progressing, with improvements to its streetscapes and intensification of its landscaping with the installation of lights and signages. In October 2020, Plan B @ TRX began its operations within the plaza in a charming, sunny glasshouse, offering a delectable selection of food and drinks.
The final touches to complete the area involve the construction of a reflective pool around the Merdeka Tree, a raintree which the plaza is named after. To make way for these new features, the beloved TRX Gallery, which is built around the tree, will have to be taken down.
Built in 2013, the TRX Gallery features full glass walls that allow natural light to enter its wooden interiors. The gallery also comes with an upper terrace with tropical hardwood decking, offering a vantage point of the district’s development, and has been the venue for numerous outdoor events. Over the years, the gallery served as a showcase building for investors and potential tenants. It has also hosted VIP visits, meetings, and the TRX Talk series.
The gallery will be replaced with a ‘C-shaped’ water feature made of stainless steel that will circumambulate the tree, to celebrate its significance as the continuous rejuvenation of Kuala Lumpur, with its expanding roots anchoring layers of rich history, while its branches grow upwards, reaching for the sky.
The combination of steel and water with the Merdeka Tree as the centre-piece will create a distinctive landmark for the plaza.
Once the construction works are done, visitors can sit under the shade of the boughs and branches and take in the ambience of the calming water, while watching the world go by. This nature’s sculpture is anticipated to be completed towards the end of this year. It will be part of a district-wide Public Realm installments put in place to create lively outdoor spaces in TRX, which include landscaped plazas and pocket parks for the community.
With the perimeter hoarding set to come up around the gallery, TRX is holding a hoarding art competition for the public to share their depiction of an Urban Tropical Paradise, through an art design. The winning design will be displayed on the temporary hoarding for the duration of construction, where it will brighten the plaza and be enjoyed by the public.
For more information on the Hoarding Art Competition, visit https://www.trx.my/city/make-your-mark-trx-hoarding-art-competition-2021
