Lotte World Tower

International Commerce Centre
環球貿易廣場
General information
Type	Hotel, observation, office, dining, shopping, parking
Location	1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Construction started	24 July 2002 (2002-07-24)
Completed	3 May 2010 (2010-05-03)
Opening	2011 (2011)
Management	Kai Shing Management Services Limited
Height
Architectural	484 m (1,588 ft)
Tip	490 m (1,610 ft)
Roof	484 m (1,588 ft)
Top floor	476 m (1,562 ft)
Observatory	393 m (1,289 ft), Sky100
Technical details
Floor count	108
Floor area	274,064 m2 (2,950,000 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	84
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (design) Belt Collins & Associates (landscape) Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd.
Developer	Sun Hung Kai Properties
Structural engineer	Arup
Main contractor	Sanfield Building Contractors Limited

The International Commerce Centre is a 108-story, 484 m (1,588 ft) supertall skyscraper, on top of Elements, neighboring the high-class residential skyscrapers (The Harbourside, The Arch, The Cullinan) and near Kowloon station in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. The ICC's official height is 490 m (1,610 ft), which made by the 6 m (20 ft) tall parapets on the roof. It is the world's 13th tallest by height, 10th tallest by number of floors, also Hong Kong's tallest and the only building with over 100 stories. It was the world's 4th tallest and 3rd in Asia when completed in 2010.

The south side of the ICC faces Victoria Harbor, and directly opposite "Two International Finance Centre", which is the 2nd tallest building in Hong Kong, standing at 415 m (1,362 ft) tall with 88 stories.

Development

MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's metro operator and largest property developer, were responsible for development of this building. Its current name was officially announced in 2005, instead of Union Square Phase 7.

Construction started on reclaimed land in 2002, and halted on September 13, 2009, due to a lift shaft accident that killed 6 workers. It was completed in phases from 2007 to 2010, and opened in 2011, with The Ritz-Carlton opening in late March and Sky100 in early April.

The tower was designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in association with Wong & Ouyang, and designed to be 574 m (1,883 ft) with 102 floors. One of the reasons to the current height is airways.

Floor count

The top floor is numbered 118. Due to the number "4", meaning to unlucky in Cantonese, and tetraphobia to buildings, is quite common in Hong Kong. (Two International Finance Centre, Nina Tower and private housing estate, as examples); plus, "missing level" makes the levels "be higher"! (Example: the top floor of The Cullinan is "93", in fact, 68). Except for level 3, 103 and 113, levels with "3" in the last digit were also skipped, and level 5, 6, 7, 26, 28, 29 & 105 missing as well for unknown reason.

They are currently replaced by levels with letter "M" and "R", which stand for "Mechanical" and "Refuge". Although the levels missing, it still shows on the elevator's screen of Sky100 and Skydining 101 while going up and down.

28 floors were skipped: 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 33, 34, 43, 44, 53, 54, 63, 64, 73, 74, 83, 84, 93, 94, 104, 105, 114

18 floors were added: UG, M1-1, M1-2, M1-3, M1-5, R1, R2, M2-1, M2-2, R3, M3-1, M3-2, R4, M4-1, M4-2, M4-3, M5, M6

Level	Real level	Type
118	108	The Ritz-Carlton (Ozone bar, swimming pool & fitness center)
M6	107	Mechanical
117	106	The Ritz-Carlton (presidential suite)
116	105	The Ritz-Carlton (spa & club lounge)
115	104	The Ritz-Carlton (guest rooms)
113	103
112	102
111	101
110	100
109	99
108	98
107	97
106	96
M5	95	Mechanical
103	94	The Ritz-Carlton (reception lobby & Café 103)
102	93	The Ritz-Carlton (dining)
M4-3	92	The Ritz-Carlton (for employees) / Mechanical
M4-2	91	Mechanical
M4-1	90
R4	89	Refuge
101	88	Skydining 101
100	87	Sky100, Café 100
99	86	Credit Suisse
98	85
97	84
96	83	Office
95	82	Credit Suisse
92	81
91	80
90	79
89	78
88	77
87	76
86	75	IWG plc
85	74
82	73
81	72	Office
80	71
79	70
78	69
M3-2	68	Mechanical
M3-1	67
R3	66	Refuge
77	65	Office
76	64
75	63
72	62
71	61
70	60
69	59
68	58
67	57
66	56
65	55
62	54
61	53	Deutsche Bank
60	52
59	51
58	50
57	49
56	48
55	47
52	46
51	45
50	44	Office
49	43	Sky lobby
48	42
M2-2	41	Mechanical
M2-1	40
R2	39	Refuge
47	38	Morgan Stanley
46	37
45	36
42	35
41	34
40	33
39	32
38	31
37	30
36	29
35	28
32	27
31	26
30	25
27	24	Office
25	23
22	22
21	21
20	20	SPACE (fitness center)
19	19	Office
18	18
17	17
16	16
15	15
12	14
R1	13	Refuge
M1-5	12	Mechanical
M1-3	11
M1-2	10
M1-1	9
11	8	Office
10	7
9	6	The Ritz-Carlton (entrance), office lobby
8	5
3	4	The Ritz-Carlton (ballroom), lobbies (office & Skydining 101)
2	3	Sky100 (entrance), Elements, skyway to WKCD
1	2	Sky100 (tickets), pick up & drop-off
UG	1	Transfer lobby
G	G	Entrance (Nga Cheung Road), loading dock, parking
B1	B1	Parking
B2	B2
B3	B3
B4	B4

Floor directory

It takes 68 seconds to the world's 14th highest observation deck, Sky100, from the lobby on level 2; along with Elements, and the skyway (behind the main entrance of Sky100) to West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD).

"Skydining" in Asian and Western style, including Inakaya, Odyssée, Perla, The Sky Boss and The Kitin, sits on supertall level 101 at an elevation of 399 m (1,309 ft).

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong occupies level 3, 8, 9 and the top 17 floors (M4-3 to 118), offering 312 rooms as well as the world's highest bar, fitness center and swimming pool set on the top floor.

The office floors are located on level 10 to 99, including a mechanical floor and refuge level; in which, the sky lobbies set on level 48 and 49, and the fitness center "SPACE" on level 20. Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank have become anchor tenants of ICC's offices since 2008.

The ICC Light and Music Show

The LED light show set a new Guinness World Records for the “largest light and sound show on a single building” using a total of 50,000 m² on two facades of the ICC.

The Show is designed by the lighting design supervisor, Hirohito Totsune, who already designed the lighting system of the Tokyo Skytree.

It creates a theme and story line by using lights and music elements, similar to "A Symphony of Lights" in Victoria Harbor.

Transportation (daily)

All-day:

Mass Transit Railway (MTR): Airport Express Tung Chung line at Kowloon station / Tuen Ma line at Austin station / Hong Kong High-speed rail at Hong Kong West Kowloon station

Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB): 8, 11, 36B, 42A, 46, 60X, 63X, 69X, 81, 95, 203E, 215X, 260X, 268X, 269B, 271, 280X, 281A, 296D, 904, 905, 914, 960, 961, 968, 978, W2, W3

City Bus (CTB): 904, 905, 914, 930, 930X, 952, 962X, 969, 970, 970X, 971, 973, A11, A12, A22, E11 (E11A), E23 (E23A)

Public light bus (minibus): 74, 74S, 77M, 78

(Routes in red refers to "jointly operated"!)

Overnight:

City Bus (CTB): N11, N23 (Tsz Wan Shan direction), N930, N952, N962, N969, NA11, NA12

Gallery

• 
  A simplified map of Union Square showing the location of the International Commerce Centre
• 
  Tower in August 2010
• 
  Office lobby in November 2008
• 
  Office lobby void in November 2008
• 
  Access from Elements shopping mall in August 2013
• 
  Residential complex The Cullinan and W Hong Kong hotel are located alongside the ICC. Taken in April 2007.
• 
  Viewed from Victoria Peak, with the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter visible.

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Hong Kong
• List of tallest buildings in China
• List of tallest buildings

External links

• Official website
• Article about the International Commerce Centre in Building Journal, April 2011.
• Elements shopping mall official website
• Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd., "More than half-a-century of architectural design experience in Hong Kong", section "International Commerce Centre and The Cullinan", pp. 31–33, September 2009