Tallest buildings in Hong Kong

The International Commerce Centre(abbr. ICC Tower) is a 118 floor, 484 m (1,590 ft) skyscraper under construction in West Kowloon, Hong Kong; as part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The development is owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's metro operator and largest property developer respectively.

Its formal development name is Union Square Phase 7 and the name International Commerce Centre was officially announced in 2005. International Commerce Centre will be completed in phases: from 2007 to 2010. Upon completion by 2010, the skyscraper will become Hong Kong's tallest building and will have the third highest roof in the world, after Burj Dubai and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, together with another major Hong Kong developer, Henderson Land, also co-developed the current record holder for Hong Kong's tallest building, 2 International Finance Centre - located directly across Victoria Harbour in Central, Hong Kong Island.

The International Commerce Centre

The International Commerce Centre will be Hong Kong's tallest with 482m height once construction has finished (2010).
Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC; Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd.
Info: The final design of this tower was made in 2001 after more than four design proposal changes. The original World's Tallest design (574m with a pyramidal top) was changed, and the new design is by KPF. This tower will form a "gateway" for Victoria Harbour with Two International Finance Centre (2IFC) at the opposite side of the harbour.
A 7-star hotel with 300 rooms will be located near the top portion of the tower on 13 floors. It will also include convention and conference facilities. The 7-star hotel will be the highest elevated hotel in the world, surpassing the Hyatt in Shanghai's Jin Mao Tower.
On Sunday Sept. 13 2009 six workers died in a construction accident in this building when a construction platform inside a lift shaft collapsed

Two International Finance Centre

Two IFC is the taller of two International Finance Centre buildings and part of a US$2.8 billion complex that includes a luxury shopping mall, the Four Seasons Hotel, and Hong Kong Station. The complex is located on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across from Victoria Harbour where an even taller skyscraper

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

The Petronas Twin Towers (Malay: Menara Berkembar Petronas) (also known as the Petronas Towers or just Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are twin towers and were the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the international organization Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).Malaysia

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Thousands of people were evacuated on September 12, 2001 after a bomb threat was phoned in the day after the September 11 attacks destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Bomb Disposal squads found no bomb in the Petronas towers but they evacuated everyone. Workers and shoppers were allowed to return three hours later, around noon. No-one was hurt during the evacuation.[26]

On the evening of November 4, 2005, a fire broke out in the cinema complex of the Suria KLCC shopping centre below the Petronas Twin Towers, triggering panic among patrons who joined screaming in the thick, acrid smoke. There were no reports of injuries. The buildings were largely empty (except the shopping mall, Suria KLCC) because of the late hour; the only people involved were moviegoers and some diners in restaurants.[27]

On the morning of September 1, 2009, French urban climber, Alain "Spiderman" Robert, using only his bare hands and feet and with no safety devices, scaled to the top of Tower Two in just under 2 hours after two previous efforts had ended in arrest.[28] On March 20, 1997, police arrested him at the 60th floor, 28 floors away from the "summit." He made a second attempt on March 20, 2007, exactly 10 years later, and was stopped once again on the same floor (though on the other tower).[29]

The Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world

Designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 after a seven year build and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion.[6] They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track.[7] Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations.[8] The 120-meter foundations were built within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche, and required massive amounts of concrete.[9]

The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim religion.[10] Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements).[11]

Due to a lack of steel and the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete.[12] High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation than a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 meter concrete cores[13] and an outer ring of widely spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 560,000 square metres of column-free office space.[14] Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Other buildings have used spires to increase their height but have always been taller overall to the pinnacle when trying to claim the title. In the aftermath of the controversy, the rules governing official titles were partially overhauled, and a number of buildings re-classified structural antenna as architectural details to boost their height rating (even though nothing was actually done to the building).

The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world

The Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004, as measured to the top of their structural components (spires, but not antennas).[3] Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.[4]

The Willis Tower and the World Trade Center towers were each constructed with 110 occupied floors – 22 more than the Petronas Twin Towers’ 88 floors. The Willis Tower and the World Trade Center’s roofs and highest occupied floors substantially exceeded the height of the roof and highest floors of the Petronas Twin Towers. The Willis Tower’s tallest antenna is 75 m (246 ft) taller than the Petronas Twin Towers’ spires. However, in accordance to CTBUH regulations and guidelines,[2] the antennas of the Willis Tower were not counted as part of its architectural features.[5] The spires on the Petronas Towers are included in the height since they are not antenna masts. Therefore, the Petronas Twin Towers exceed the official height of the Willis Tower by 10 m, but the Willis Tower has more floors and much higher square footage.

The Empire State Building for the thrill of a lifetime

For the better part of a century, visitors to the New York have headed straight to the Empire State Building for the thrill of a lifetime: the journey aloft to its fabled Observatory nearly a quarter of a mile above Fifth Avenue. Here you are treated to breathtaking panoramas across the rooftops, avenues and byways of the New York Metropolitan areas, to as far away as four neighboring states.

New York Pass grants its holders free entry to the Empire State Building Observation Deck & to 50 other top Attractions in New York City.

When you are visiting Empire State Building with the New York Pass, you can also try the New York Skyride - an awesome aerial tour of New York City that sends you on a ride around, above and even below all the city has to offer… and it is also free for New York Pass holders.

Hong Kong City Church

Central Plaza is the second tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. With a height of 374 m (1,227 ft), Central Plaza is only surpassed by 2 IFC (415 m / 1,362 ft) in Central. The building is located at 18 Harbour Road, in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island. It was the tallest building in Asia from 1992 to 1996, until the Shun Hing Square in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China, was built. The 78-storey building was completed in August 1995. The building surpassed the Bank of China Tower as the tallest building in Hong Kong until the completion of 2IFC.

Central Plaza was also the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world, until it was surpassed by CITIC Plaza, Guangzhou. The building uses a triangular floor plan. On the top of the tower is a four-bar neon clock that indicates the time by displaying different colors in 15 minute intervals, blinking at the change of the quarter.

An anemometer is installed on the tip of the building's mast; the anemometer sits at 378 m (1,240 ft) above sea level. The mast has a height of 102 m (335 ft). It also houses the world's highest church--Hong Kong City Church.

Central Plaza Hong Kong

Central Plaza is made up of two principal components: a free standing 368 m (1,207 ft) high office tower and a 30.5 m (100 ft) high podium block attached to it. The tower is made up of three sections: a 30.5 m (100 ft) high tower base forming the main entrance and public circulation spaces; a 235.4 m (772 ft) tall tower body containing 57 office floors, a sky lobby and five mechanical plant floors; and the tower top consist of six mechanical plant floors and a 102 m (335 ft) tall tower mast.

The ground level public area along with the public sitting out area form an 8,400 m² (90,400 sq ft) landscaped garden with fountain, trees and artificial stone paving. No commercial element is included in the podium. The first level is a public thoroughfare for three pedestrian bridges linking the Mass Transit Railway, the Convention and Exhibition Centre and the China Resource Building. By turning these space to public use, the building got 20% plot ratio more as bonus. The shape of the tower is not truly triangular but with its three corners cut off to provide better internal office spaces.