Monday February 28, 2011

I-City to bring ‘winter’ to Shah Alam

By THO XIN YI
thoxinyi@thestar.com.my

I-CITY in Shah Alam will soon receive its first snow fall.

Its developer, i-Berhad, has signed an alliance with Barskorea — a snowflake machine manufacturer in South Korea — to bring a unit of snow-making machine to the 29ha development.

During an inspection visit to Barskorea factory in Seo-Gu, Incheon Metropolitan City in South Korea, i-City CEO Datuk Eu Hong Chew said it owned the exclusive rights of the machine in Malaysia.

“In exchange, Barskorea can bring its customers to see how the machine works in i-City.

Done deal: Eu (right) and Barskorea director Lee Ki Choon after signing the strategic alliance.

“We believe we’re the first in South East Asia to bring snowfall experience to the people,” he said.

Equipped with 16 patented snow drums, the machine would be installed in the ceiling at the entrance of SnoWalk in i-City.

There would be a snow area for visitors to have a taste of winter, besides the 30 LED-lit ice sculptures in the 50,000 sq ft artic environment.

Barskorea marketing manager Mark Lee said the company specialised in snow-making machines for the food and beverage industry and this co-operation with i-City marked its first venture into recreational facilities.

“Each drum of the machine can produce about 400kg of snow with more than 1,000 litres of purified water a day,” he said.

The machine was made up of three major components — chiller, snow drum and condenser.

“The chiller filters and cools the water from room temperature to 15 degree C, while the condenser freezes the snow drum to -35 degrees C using R-404A environment-friendly refrigerant gas.

“The blades in the snow drums then process the ice to soft and powdery snowflakes,” Eu said.

Taking a step further, the Barskorea came out with the idea of creating virtual sensory winter sports system, where people could try out virtual snowboarding, skiing and skating in a man-made winter environment.

Eu said the developer would consider signing up for the system depending on public response to the artificial snow.

The official launch of SnoWalk will be held in mid-March after the snow-making machine is installed.

“The site was originally conceptualised as a six-month project but we have decided to turn it into a permanent attraction since we have secured a tie-up with the National Science Centre to make it an edutainment branch for visitors to the centre.

“They will be given a discount on the entry into the SnoWalk, which is currently priced at RM25 per adult and RM20 per child,” Eu said.