The 88-storey skyscraper in International Finance Centre (IFC) will soon be Hong Kong's tallest building. The project in Central includes offices, shopping malls and hotels to be completed in stages beginning next year. Today (July 23) the developer invited the press to preview the new Cosmorama multi-media showcase of the project's superb quality, intelligent technology and advanced communications.

IFC is the product of IFC Development Limited, a partnership between Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land, Hong Kong & China Gas and Sun Chung Estate (part of the Bank of China Group). Costing a total of HK$20 billion, this massive project is being developed in two phases, providing 4.7 million square feet of gross floor area including 2.8 million square feet of office space, 800,000 square feet of retail space and 1.1 million square feet of hotel accommodation. There will also be a 140,000 square-foot podium garden and 1,800 parking spaces. The 800,000 square feet of offices and 180,000 square feet of shopping in the first phase are complete and fully occupied. Leasing of the Phase 2 offices and shopping centre will start soon.

IFC Project Director Eric Tung said the development has an incomparable location in the Central business district; the core of finance, commerce and administration in the territory. Above Hong Kong Station on the Airport Express Line and linked to Central Station on the Mass Transit Railway, IFC is at the heart of Hong Kong's comprehensive transport network, and its prime location on the waterfront offers a spectacular view of Victoria Harbour. In addition, with its commanding height and sophisticated facilities, IFC truly reflects Hong Kong's status as an international centre of business.

Phase 2 of IFC is a 420-metre, 88-storey office tower with two million square feet of gross floor area, a large shopping mall, one six-star hotel tower and one tower for long-term guests. This will be completed in stages between the third quarter of next year and the middle of 2004.

Intelligent and interactive design

Mr Tung said the 88-storey intelligent office tower integrates the latest technology, interactive functions, innovative architecture and environmentally-friendly design. The superstructure stands on one of the world's largest cofferdam foundations, extending 40 metres below ground, writing a new page in the history of Hong Kong architecture. The tower will have sophisticated information technology and telecommunications systems suitable for e-commerce and other interactive multi-media services, and in addition to its own communication network, it will have dedicated cable ducts for tenants' wiring to ensure that business information remains confidential.

Each floor of the glimmering tower will have a spacious column-free layout with high ceilings for a spacious working environment, double-glazed windows for better heat and sound insulation and raised floors to accommodate advanced fibre-optic and digital networks.

The 57 high-speed passenger and shuttle lifts will all have news and financial information displays. The essential power and chilled water systems have a dual-pathway design with full emergency backup to guarantee uninterrupted supply, and the building will be managed using fully-automated technology from the Building Control Centre, offering one-stop, 24-hour management service.

Top hotels and shopping

The development's two hotel blocks will have 1.1 million square feet of gross floor area, making it the largest six-star hotel facility in Hong Kong, to be managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The 38-storey hotel tower will have 400 guest rooms and 600 units in the other 48-storey tower will accommodate long-term guests. The 620,000 square-foot Phase 2 shopping mall will be the largest entertainment hub in Central, taking full advantage of its harbour side location with premier food and beverages outlets housed in glass pavilions and over 1,000 feet of waterfront to give customers a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour. The mall will also have the first multi-screen cinema in Central.

The complex was designed by the famous American architect Cesar Pelli, in association with Rocco Yim of Hong Kong. Mr Pelli's other notable projects include the World Financial Center in New York City, Canary Wharf Tower in London and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Cosmorama

The Cosmorama multi-media showcase for IFC Phase 2 on the 23rd floor of One IFC is open to visitors by appointment. The developer spent HK$30 million to outfit the showcase with high-tech installations and a futuristic feel as envisioned by a team of cutting-edge designers.

Cosmorama is made up of seven different zones:

• Zone 1: The automatic door glides open and visitors are greeted with their name and company displayed on-screen as a high-tech welcome.

• Zone 2: A translucent glass screen shows a fast-paced introduction to IFC, with illuminated models behind the screen appearing at intervals during the presentation to add to the special effects.

• Zone 3: IFC's extensive connections to the Airport Railway, MTR, buses, ferries and Mid-Levels escalator are displayed on a large-scale luminous map.

• Zone 4: Interactive plasma screens create a virtual interactive brochure, showing different floor plans, levels and directions at the touch of a finger.

• Zone 5: Grand 1:125 scale model of the shopping mall in 360-degree rotation, with special lighting to recreate the night view of IFC.

• Zone 6: Ten-foot 1:150 scale model of the 88-storey tower with an interactive display terminal alongside showing detailed information, and a 1:75 scale model of the office tower's entrance lobby.

• Zone 7: Conference room with reflective floor listing the ten tallest buildings in the world, including IFC at number four.

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