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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 storeys and four trading floors, 18 high speed passenger lifts in 4 zones, and comprises 784,000 square feet. The building has attracted global financial institutions as its tenants, making One IFC a key business destination in Hong Kong. The building current accomodates approximately 5,000 people.
Two International Finance Centre was completed in 2003. Desiged by Cesar Pelli, this 420 m tall building is currently Hong Kong's tallest, with 88 storeys and 22 high-ceiling trading floors. The highrise is designed to accommodate financial firms. It is equipped with high-bandwidth fiber-optic, wireless, and satellite networks, raised floors for flexible cabling management, and nearly column-free floor plans. This Center expects to accommodate up to 15,000 people.
The top floors of IFC is a touch higher than the Peak viewing gallery in Hong Kong. It is the second tallest building in China and the 6th tallest office building in the world after:
- Taipei 101 in Taiwan
- the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- the Sears Tower in Chicago, USA
- the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, China
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-story 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 sare, 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, which caters to gourmet home-chefs.
Notes on IFC2
- It is one of the 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 and a length of 230m; 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).
What are double-deck elevators?
Double-deck elevators are designed such that two elevator cars are attached one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft
Architecturally, this is important as double-deck elevators occupy less building core space than a traditional single-deck elevator. In skyscrapers, this allows for much more efficient use of space as the floor area required by elevators tends to be quite significant.
==World-Class Office Accomodation and Services
- Premier Management Services, the specialist property management division of MTRthat focuses on high end prestigious commercial property, provides a comprehensive package of services including air conditioning, cleaning, concierge, and facilities management.