This telecommunications tower is situated on top of Bukit Nanas, a small hill amidst a forest reserve within the business hub of KL. It stands at 94 metres above sea-level and is 421 metres high. This impressive concrete tower is the 5th tallest in the world (after the CN Tower-Toronto, Ostankino Tower-Moscow, Oriental Pearl Tower-Shanghai and Milad Tower - Tehran).

Great care was taken to protect the natural environment during construction. The crew had to work around a 100 year old Jelutong tree (Dyera Costulata) and preserved it by building a special retaining wall at an additional cost of RM430,000.

The ground level houses a theatrette, an amphitheatre, a prayer room and shoplots (for fast food outlet and souvenir shops). Vistors can watch a short (15 minutes) documentary on the making of the tower at the theatrette. The 146 metre pedestrian mall is beautifully landscaped complete with cascading pools and fountains along the walkway.

The tower shaft has distinctive ribs and the tower head, clad in glass, is arranged in the traditional Islamic form of Muqarnas. Iranian craftsmen from KL's twin city of Isfahan, were employed to decorated the tower and did a spectacular job with the ceiling of the lift lobby. The Muqarnas constructed in the arrangement of glasses on the dome represented the 7 layers of the sky, with sun rays radiating from the middle. It also symbolises the human journey for perfection in life.

The tower is equiped with 4 express lifts and visitors can travel up to the observation deck within 60 seconds. It also has a stairway of 2,058 steps from the base to the tower head. The tower head has 8 floors. These include an observation platform, revolving restaurant (Seri Angkasa), telecommunication station, a building service floor, RTM station and a meteorological station. The tower head is 50 metres across at its widest point.

The architecture of the tower was designed by Kumpulan Senireka and built by Wayss Freytag (a German construction firm). It cost RM270 million and was completed and officially opened in 1996. Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia) has been awarded the concession by the Government to plan, build, operate and manage the Tower for 15 years.