International Commerce Centre

The International Commerce Centre is a 108-story, 484 m (1,588 ft) supertall skyscraper in West Kowloon, Hong Kong, resting atop the Elements mall and near two MTR Stations (Kowloon and Austin Station). It is the world's 13th tallest building by height, 10th tallest by number of floors, and Hong Kong's tallest, as well as the only building in the city with over 100 storeys.^[1] The official height is 484 m (1,588 ft), which includes the 6 m (20 ft) tall parapets on the roof.^[1][2] It was the fourth tallest building in Asia and also the fourth tallest building in the world when completed in 2010.^[3]

International Commerce Centre compared with other tallest buildings in Asia.

International Commerce Centre (ICC)
環球貿易廣場
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Commercial offices
Location	1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Construction started	2002; 23 years ago (2002)
Completed	2010; 15 years ago (2010)[1]
Management	Harbour Vantage[1]
Height
Architectural	484 m (1,588 ft)[1]
Tip	484 m (1,588 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count	108 above ground[1]
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates[1]
Developer	Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited[1]
Structural engineer	Arup[1]
Main contractor	China State Construction Engineering Corporation;[1] Sanfield Building Contractors Limited [1]

The south side of the building faces Victoria Harbour.

History

The height had been scaled back from earlier plans due to regulations that did not allow buildings to be taller than the surrounding mountains. The original proposal for this building was called Kowloon Station Phase 7 and it was designed to be 574 m (1,883 ft) tall with 102 floors.^[4]

The tower was designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in association with Wong & Ouyang. It was built by Sanfield, the construction subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai.^[5]

Construction work was temporarily halted^[6] on 13 September 2009, due to a lift shaft accident that killed six workers.^[7]

Floor count

The top floor is "118". However, levels with "4" in the last digit were skipped because it sounds like "death" in Cantonese and Mandarin (tetraphobia), it also makes levels "higher", similar to Western superstition about the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia). e.g. the 68-storey building, The Cullinan, is declared 93 storeys.

Except for level 3, 103 and 113, levels with "3" in the last digit were also skipped, level 5, 6, 7, 26, 28, 29 and 105 were skipped as well for unknown reason. They are currently replaced by levels with "M" & "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	Tower level	Type	Elevation
118	103	The Ritz-Carlton (swimming pool, fitness centre & Ozone bar)	476 m (1,562 ft)
M6	102	Mechanical
117	101	The Ritz-Carlton (presidential suite)
116	100	The Ritz-Carlton (spa & club lounge)	465 m (1,526 ft)
115	99	The Ritz-Carlton (guest rooms)
113	98
112	97
111	96
110	95
109	94
108	93
107	92
106	91
M5	90	Mechanical
103	89	The Ritz-Carlton (reception lobby, Café 103 & buffet)	425 m (1,394 ft)
102	88	The Ritz-Carlton (dining)
M4-3	87	The Ritz-Carlton (staff only) / Mechanical
M4-2	86	Mechanical
M4-1	85
R4	84	Refuge
101	83	Skydining 101	399 m (1,309 ft)
100	82	Sky100 & Café 100	393 m (1,289 ft)
99	81	UBS
98	80
97	79
96	78	Office
95	77	UBS
92	76
91	75
90	74
89	73
88	72
87	71
86	70	IWG plc
85	69
82	68
81	67	Office
80	66
79	65
78	64
M3-2	63	Mechanical
M3-1	62
R3	61	Refuge
77	60	Office
76	59
75	58
72	57
71	56
70	55
69	54
68	53
67	52
66	51
65	50
62	49
61	48	Deutsche Bank
60	47
59	46
58	45
57	44
56	43
55	42
52	41
51	40
50	39	Office
49	38	Sky lobby
48	37
M2-2	36	Mechanical
M2-1	35
R2	34	Refuge
47	33	Morgan Stanley
46	32
45	31
42	30
41	29
40	28
39	27
38	26
37	25
36	24
35	23
32	22
31	21
30	20
27	19	Office
25	18
22	17
21	16
20	15	SPACE (fitness centre)
19	14	Office
18	13
17	12
16	11
15	10
12	9
R1	8	Refuge
M1-5	7	Mechanical
M1-3	6
M1-2	5
M1-1	4
11	3	Office
10	2
9	1	The Ritz-Carlton (entrance), office lobby & podium floor
8	G
⬆ ICC ⬆ ⬇ Elements ⬇
3	4	The Ritz-Carlton (ballroom) & lobbies (office & Skydining 101)	25 m (82 ft)
2	3	Sky100 (tickets & entrance) & skyway to WKCD
1	2	-
UG	1
G	G	Entrance (Nga Cheung Road), bus stop & loading dock
B1	B1	Carpark
B2	B2
B3	B3
B4	B4

Sky100 & Skydining 101

Main article: Sky100

An elevator ascending at speeds of 32/kmh^[8] for 60-seconds^[9] goes to the 393-metre high indoor observation deck Sky100, on level 100. It is the 2nd highest observation deck in Hong Kong, after outdoor Sky Terrace 428 on The Peak Tower.^[10][11] It opens from 1000 to 2030 daily (last entry at 2000), but depends on the weather and sometimes for private only,^[12] the admission fee of aged 12 to 64 is $198. The Hong Kong action film, Cold War, which stars Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai as the main character, was also filmed here in 2011.

Skydining 101 (Inakaya, Odyssée, The Sky Boss and The Kitin) are on level 101, at 399 m (1,309 ft).

• 
  Sky100
• 
  Office lobby with the passage to Skydining 101

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong

Main article: The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong

A five-star hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong occupies floors 102 to 118. According to Guinness World Records, the "world's highest swimming pool in a building" is on the 118th floor at 468.8 meters.^[13] The 2,800 m² (30,000 sq ft) Presidential Suite, which costs 100,000 HKD per night, is on the 117th floor. The hotel's arrival lobby is on the 9th floor where guest are greeted by receptionists and taken to express elevators. The express elevators take guests 425 m (1,394 ft) above the ground in 50 seconds to the main lobby on the 103rd floor. Guest keycards are required to use the hotel elevators to access the hotel rooms on floors 104-117 and the swimming pool and gym on floor 118. An exclusive Club lounge for guests staying in club rooms and suites is located on floor 116 along with the spa. Three restaurants, Tosca an Italian restaurant, a Chinese restaurant and the main restaurant are all located one floor below reception on floor 102.^[14]

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.^[15] The Show is designed by the lighting design supervisor, Hirohito Totsune,^[16] who already designed the lighting system of the Tokyo Skytree.^[17] It creates a theme and story line by using lights and music elements, similar to "A Symphony of Lights" in Victoria Harbour.

Transport (daily)

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

Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB): 8, 11, 95, 203E, 215X, 260X, 269B, 280X, 281A, 296D, 904, 905, 914, 960, 961, 968, 978, W2

City Bus (CTB): 50, 904, 905, 914, 930, 930X, 952, 962X, 969, 970, 970X, 971, 973, A10, A11, A12, A22, E11 (E11A), E23 (E23A)

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

Public light bus (minibus): 26, 74, 74S, 77M, CX1

Overnight:
City Bus (CTB): N50, N930, N952, N962, N969, NA11, NA12

Gallery

• 
  A simplified map of Union Square showing the location of the International Commerce Centre
• 
  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