How skyscrapers keep lightning away

During a dramatic thunderstorm, lightning appeared to strike Merdeka 118 repeatedly, with photographs showing bolts converging on Malaysia’s tallest building. What looked like nature overwhelming one of the country’s most ambitious structures was actually just a demonstration of modern engineering working as intended.

Malaysia experiences some of the highest lightning activity in the world. Klang Valley frequently records intense thunderstorm activity throughout the year.

According to recent lightning mapping, certain areas are shown to be more susceptible such as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Subang and the greater KL area.

These consistently rank among the country’s most lightning- prone regions, making the city’s skyline the frontline in the war against one of nature’s most powerful and destructive forces.

Contrary to popular belief, lightning does not actively seek out the tallest building. Instead, it follows the easiest electrical pathway to complete the connection between the cloud and the ground.

So as buildings continue to climb higher and scrape the sky, they are increasingly likely to become that final connection.

Engineers have studied this natural phenomenon for centuries and play a crucial role in the design of supertall buildings, considering their expected exposure to repeated lightning strikes throughout their lifespan, particularly in tropical countries like Malaysia where thunderstorms are frequent.

When it comes to supertalls like Merdeka 118, one of the first things viewers notice is the distinctive spire. Standing at 160m in height, the extension serves more than an architectural purpose. It extends the building’s total height to its famous 678.9m while also functioning as the tower’s primary lightning interception point.

The spire is fully integrated into the building’s lightning protection system, ensuring that any electrical energy is captured at a location that is specifically engineered to withstand repeated strikes. The energy is then channelled safely to the ground.

A lightning bolt’s journey

The entire process happens in milliseconds. Once lightning strikes a building, enormous electrical currents travel through dedicated conductors hidden within the structure.

These conductors carry the energy away from occupied spaces and towards an extensive grounding network buried beneath the foundation. There, the current is dispersed safely into the surrounding earth.

A typical lightning strike carries around 30,000 amps of electrical current, although exceptionally powerful strikes can exceed even 200,000 amps. A lightning channel itself can reach temperatures of approximately 30,000°C, around five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Just managing such an immense burst of energy for fractions of a second requires incredible engineering.

To put it simply, the engineered network has to direct the current along a dedicated path rather than allowing it to seek its own.

At the same time, surge protection devices isolate sensitive electrical equipment from sudden voltage spikes.

Without these layers of protection, a strike could potentially damage servers, communications equipment, lift controls or other electronic systems that modern buildings depend on every day.

So, for modern skyscrapers, protecting the structure itself is only one piece of the puzzle. Today’s buildings function as vertical ecosystems, housing offices, residences, telecommunications equipment, intelligent building management systems, security networks, high-speed lifts and sophisticated digital infrastructure.

Even if the building remains structurally unharmed, an uncontrolled electrical surge could interrupt operations, damage critical equipment or lead to downtime that burns through costs.

For developers and asset owners, the concern is whether a building can withstand a strike. Additionally, can critical operations continue without disruption?

Lightning management in older buildings

Merdeka 118 and other supertall buildings are a symbol of progress and modernity compared to older high-rise buildings. Decades ago, lightning protection only focused on preventing structural damage and fire by providing a safe path for the electrical current to reach the ground.

For buildings in that era, it was effective and enough. However, today’s towers are much more complex than the older ones.

With much more complex electrical and digital infrastructure, this means the consequences of a badly managed strike could extend even beyond structural damage. This makes surge protection even more important than ever.

Today’s developments integrate electrical engineering, building management technology and surge protection from the earlier stages of design.

This fully shifts the system from just structural protection to complete operational resilience.

Ten strikes in 10 minutes

The effectiveness of such systems was vividly demonstrated when photographs of Merdeka 118 being struck by lightning repeatedly during a thunderstorm went viral last year. According to photographer Shaiful Baker in an Instagram posting, the tower was hit around 10 times within just 10 minutes, with several strikes captured on camera.

While the spectacle appeared dramatic, engineers would have viewed it rather differently. Each strike represented the building performing exactly as intended, intercepting immense electrical energy at its highest point before safely channelling it into the earth below.

In fact, the building’s relationship with lightning began way before it welcomed its first occupants. During the construction of Merdeka 118, contractors relied on weather monitoring systems and lightning alerts to suspend work whenever thunderstorms approached.

With workers operating hundreds of metres above the ground, it would be highly dangerous to fit in tiles and windows while energy crackled around them.

Malaysia’s tropical weather became an engineering and safety consideration from the earliest stages of the project.

For the property sector, this shift reflects a broader movement towards resilience as a core component of building value. Beyond location, design and amenities, premium developments are increasingly being judged by how well they can maintain operations under such extreme conditions.

Lightning protection, electrical redundancy and smart building systems are increasingly becoming part of the infrastructure to support long-term asset performance.