International Finance Centre (IFC) is an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District. A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, it consists of three skyscrapers, the IFC Mall and the Airport Express Hong Kong Station, owned by the MTR Corporation.
One International Finance Centre was completed in 1998. It is 180 m tall, has 39 stories and four trading floors, 18 high speed passenger lifts in 4 zones, and comprises 784,000 square feet (72,800 m²). The building has attracted global financial institutions as its tenants, making One IFC a key business destination in Hong Kong. The building current accommodates approximately 5,000 people.
Two International Finance Centre was completed in 2003. Designed by Cesar Pelli, this 415.8 m tall building is currently Hong Kong's tallest, with 88 stories (an extremely lucky number in Cantonese culture) and 22 high-ceiling trading floors. The highrise is designed to accommodate financial firms. It is equipped with state of the art telecommunications, raised floors for flexible cabling management, and nearly column-free floor plans. The Center expects to accommodate up to 15,000 people.
The top floor of Two IFC is slightly higher than the city's landmark the Peak viewing gallery in Hong Kong. It is the third tallest building in Greater China and the 6th tallest office building in the world after:
These ranks are based on structural heights; by roof height only Taipei 101 and Sears Tower exceed it.
Tenants of the building include Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Warburg Pincus, Nomura Group, UBS AG, Ernst & Young, and State Street Bank .
The 40-stories Four Seasons Hotel and Suites will complete the third phase of the development and is expected to open in 2005. It will be the first Four Seasons in Hong Kong.
The IFC mall features a number of top fashion, health & skin care , jewelry & accessories shops, restaurants, and a cinema. The IFC mall houses over 200 different brands. It also features Hong Kong's third city'super store, a gourmet food grocery.
Notes on Two IFC
- There are relatively few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck elevators.
- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority bought several floors in the top portion of the tower for USD 0.48 bn.
- Financial Times, HSBC, and Cathay Pacific put up an advertisement on the facade from October to November of 2003 that stretched more than 50 stories tall, covering an area of 0.2 million square ft (19,000 m²) and a length of 230 m; making it the world's largest advertisement ever put on skyscraper.
- This is the tallest building in Hong Kong, surpassing the Central Plaza.
- IFC2's reign as Hong Kong's tallest will not be long, as Union Square Phase 7 is under construction and will claim the title in 2007.
- More than 3,500 workers from various places around the world worked at the construction site during the peak construction period.
- This building was featured in the Hollywood movie Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.
- The 88th floor of the tower contains the office of the Chief Executive of the HK Monetary Authority. It is served by an individual lift.
- The tower is attached to the second phase of IFC Mall.
- There is no public viewing gallery in IFC2.
- An exhibition area and a library of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre occupy the 55th floor and are open to the public during office hours.
- The number of storeys (88) has in this case a special significance, as the number eight (八, formal writing 捌, pinyin ba1) is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word "prosper" (發 pinyin fa1).
- Developed by a consortium lead by Sun Hung Kai Properties & MTR Corp.
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