The International Commerce Centre (abbreviated ICC) is a 118- storey, commercial

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

completed in 2010 in

West Kowloon West Kowloon () is the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District and Sham Shui Po District. It is bounded by Canton Road to the east, Victoria Harbour to the west and the south, and Jorda ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. It is a part of the Union Square project on top of Kowloon station. It was the 4th tallest building in the world (third in Asia) when its construction was completed in late 2010. As of June 2019, it is the world's 12th tallest building by height, world's 9th tallest building by number of floors, as well as the tallest building in Hong Kong and also the 6th tallest building within China if territories are included. Tallest buildings in Asia

Notable amenities include the 312 rooms The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, and an observatory, Sky100. The ICC faces the second-tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, the 2 International Finance Centre (IFC) directly across

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

in Central, Hong Kong Island. IFC was also developed by

Sun Hung Kai Properties Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHKP; ) is a listed corporation and the largest property developer in Hong Kong as of 2019. The company is controlled by the Kwok family trust, largely the Kwok brothers. The Kwok family trust was set up by Kw ...

, along with another major Hong Kong developer, Henderson Land.

Development

MTR Corporation Limited MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hong ...

and

, Hong Kong's

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...

operator and largest property developer, were responsible for development of this skyscraper. Known in development as Union Square Phase 7, its current name was officially announced in 2005. The International Commerce Centre was completed in phases from 2007 to 2010. The tower opened in 2011, with the Ritz-Carlton opening in late March and the observatory in early April. The height had been scaled back from the 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 tall with 102 floors. It would have risen over the then-current tallest in

, 2 International Finance Centre. The tower was designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in association with Wong & Ouyang. Construction work was temporarily halted on 13 September 2009, due to a lift shaft accident that killed six workers.

Floor count

The building has 107 floors above ground and 4 below ground. Due to prevalence of

tetraphobia Tetraphobia () is the practice of avoiding instances of the digit . It is a superstition most common in East Asian nations. __TOC__ Rationale The Chinese word for "four" (, pinyin: sì, jyutping: sei3), sounds quite similar to the word for ...

in Hong Kong, floors that would have included the number "4" and “13” (4, 13, 14, 24, 34, 44 etc…) were omitted. Therefore, it is marketed as a 118-storey building.

Floor directory

In its basement is the

Elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...

shopping mall, which opened in October 2007. A

five-star hotel Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...

, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong occupies floors 102 to 118. The world's highest swimming pool and bar (OZONE) can be found on the top 118th floor. The building also contains an

observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclose ...

on the 100th floor called Sky100 which opened to the public in April 2011. The 101st floor is leased to a number of five-star restaurants. The rest of the building, except the lobby, contains class-A office space. Future apartment space may be leased for the public in coming years.

The ICC Light and Music Show

The LED light show set a new

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the “largest light and sound show on a single building” using a total of 50,000 square metres on two facades of the International Commerce Centre. The ICC Light and Music Show is designed by lighting designer Hirohito Totsune who already designed the lighting system of the

Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

, the ICC Light and Music Show creates a theme and storyline using light and music elements.

Gallery

Image:Union square.svg, A simplified map of Union Square showing the location of the International Commerce Centre File:International Commerce Centre 201008.jpg, Tower in August 2010 File:International Commerce Centre Lift Lobby Overview 2008.jpg, Office lobby in November 2008 File:International Commerce Centre Lift Lobby Overview1.jpg, Office lobby void in November 2008 File:Elements Access to International Commerce Centre 2013.jpg, Access from

shopping mall in August 2013 File:The Cullinan.jpg, Residential complex The Cullinan and W Hong Kong hotel are located alongside the ICC. Taken in April 2007. File:International Commerce Centre 7484.jpg, Viewed from

Victoria Peak Victoria Peak is a hill on the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak only generally. With an elevation of , it is the highest hill on Hong Kong Island, ranked 29 in terms of elevation in H ...

, with the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter visible.

References

External links

*
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 * {{Supertall skyscrapers , current 2010 establishments in Hong Kong Office buildings completed in 2010 Commercial buildings completed in 2011 Kohn Pedersen Fox buildings MTR Corporation Skyscraper office buildings in Hong Kong Sun Hung Kai Properties Union Square (Hong Kong) West Kowloon