The famous landmark of Hong Kong may be the Bank of China Tower which is located on Hong Kong Island. It was once the 1st high building in HK and the 5th high building in the world. As the headquarter for the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, it is not open to the public to do sightseeing inside.
The Designer and the Design
This building is the work of the famous designer I.M Pei who is also the designer of
Suzhou Museum. It is not hard to find the Pei’s style in this building. And till now, this building becomes the fourth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre and Central Plaza. The building has 72 floors, totally building area is about 12.900 sq meters, and the heigh is 315 meters. The design idea was merged from the bamboo which contained “rising fastly” meaning in Chinese culture. So as an architecture of bank, it is a good idea. The four triangular shafts which form the building grow more narrow as the building rises. These shafts support the weight of the building and eliminate the need for many internal vertical supports. Consequently, the Bank of China uses less steel than typical for a building its size.
•Building Name: Bank of China Tower
•Preceded by: Central Plaza
•Surpassed by: Bank of America Tower
•Opened: May 17, 1990
•Address: 1 Garden Road, Hong Kong
•Height: 1,084 feet (330.4 m)
•Floors: 72
•Architectural Style: High-Tech Architecture
•Chief Architect: I. M. Pei & Partners, Sherman Kung & Associates Architects Ltd. Thomas Boada S.L.
•Chief Contractor: HKC (Holdings) Limited[citation needed] (Kumagai HK)
•Chief Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates RLLP
•Awards: 2002 “Excellent” Award of Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method;
1999 Ten Best Architecture in Hong Kong, HKIA;
1992 Marble Architectural Award;
1991 AIA Reynolds Memorial Award;
1989 Award for Engineering Excellence, ACEC;
1989 Certificate of Engineering Excellence, NYACE, etc.
Interesting Things of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Tower
• The 43
rd floor offers a public viewing platform to carch the bird view of Hong Kong • This BOC Tower design caused controversy that was related to the Feng Shui • The BOK Tower is the back picture of Hong Kong dollar