The Center

The Centre
中環中心

A view of The Centre
General information
Type Office
Location Hong Kong Hong Kong
Coordinates 22°17′05″N 114°09′16″E / 22.28472°N 114.15444°ECoordinates: 22°17′05″N 114°09′16″E / 22.28472°N 114.15444°E
Construction started 1995
Completed 1998
Height
Architectural 346 m (1,135 ft)[1]
Roof 292 m (958 ft)
Top floor 275 m (902 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count 73[1]
Floor area 130,032 m2 (1,399,653 sq ft)[1]
Lifts/elevators 41, made by Otis Elevator Company[1]
Design and construction
Architect Dennis Lau & Ng Chun Man Architects & Engineers (HK) Ltd.[1]
Developer Cheung Kong,
Land Development Corporation
Structural engineer Maunsell AECOM Group[1]
Main contractor Paul & - ITC Construction[1]
References
[1][2]
The Center
Traditional Chinese 中環中心
Simplified Chinese 中环中心

The Centre (Chinese: 中環中心) is the fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong,[1] after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre (88 storeys), Central Plaza and Bank of China Tower. With a height of 346 m (1,135 ft), it comprises 73 stories. The Centre is one of the few skyscrapers in Hong Kong that is entirely steel-structured with no reinforced concrete core. It is located on Queen's Road Central in the Central and Western District, roughly halfway between the MTR Island Line's Sheung Wan and Central stations.

Background

The ground floor lobby of The Centre

The Centre is notable for its arrangement of hundreds of neon lights arranged as bars in increasing frequency towards the top of the building, which slowly scroll through the colours of the spectrum at night. During the Christmas season, the building's neon arrangement follows a festive motif and resembles a Christmas tree.

The direct translation of the Chinese name of the building is "Central Centre" or the "centre of Central", even though the building is in fact near the boundary of Central and Sheung Wan (Wing Kut Street).

The building was a project involving the Land Development Corporation since it was required to demolish many old buildings and lanes. The premises of The Centre is of irregular shape because surrounding lots within Queen's Road Central, Jubilee Street, Des Voeux Road Central and Gilman's Bazaar were already redeveloped. Various lanes and streets including Gilman Street, Wing On Street, Tung Man Street, Hing Lung Street, and Tit Hong Lane were shortened.

In addition, several historical structures were demolished from the project. Many cloth shops located on Wing On Street, also known as Cloth Alley, were moved to the Western Market while Eu Yan Sang, a traditional Chinese medicine shop, was moved near the Stag Building to continue business.

The building, including its iconic lobby, were featured in the film The Dark Knight.

In November 2014, Russian Alexander Remnev and his three friends scaled to the top of the building and took videos and selfies there.[3]

The Centre (in the centre of the picture) as seen from Victoria Peak

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "The Center - The Skyscraper Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
  2. ↑ "The Centre - SkyscraperPage.com". Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  3. ↑ Michael Gadd (17 November 2014). "Wrong... on so many levels! Adventurers scale Hong Kong's skyscrapers to take vertigo-inducing selfies above the city". Daily Mail.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Center, Hong Kong.