The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; ,
Shanghainese
The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan langua ...
: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a
supertall 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 ...
located in the
Pudong
Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...
district of
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
. It was designed by
Kohn Pedersen Fox
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is an American architecture firm that provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. KPF is one of the largest architecture firms in ...
and developed by the
Mori Building Company, with Leslie E. Robertson Associates as its structural engineer and
China State Construction Engineering Corp
The China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) () is the largest construction company in the world by revenue and the 8th largest general contractor in terms of overseas sales, as of 2020.
While most of the assets of CSCEC were flo ...
and Shanghai Construction (Group) General Co. as its main contractor. It is a mixed-use skyscraper, consisting of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and ground-floor shopping malls.
Park Hyatt Shanghai is the tower's hotel component, comprising 174 rooms and suites occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. It is now the third-highest hotel in the world after the
Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, which occupies floors 102 to 118 of the
International Commerce Centre.
On 14 September 2007, the skyscraper was
topped out at ,
making it the
2nd tallest building in the world on completion (the tallest at the time being
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
), and
the tallest in China. The SWFC opened to the public on 28 August 2008, with its
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 ...
opening on 30 August. The observation deck offers views from above ground level.
The SWFC has been lauded for its design, and in 2008 it was named by architects as the year's best-completed skyscraper.
["Shanghai tower named year's best skyscraper"]
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2013. In 2013, the SWFC was exceeded in height by the adjacent
Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. ,
which is China's tallest structure . Together, The Shanghai World Financial Center, The
Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. and The
Jin Mao Tower form the world's first adjacent grouping of three supertall skyscrapers.
History
Designed by American architectural firm
Kohn Pedersen Fox
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is an American architecture firm that provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. KPF is one of the largest architecture firms in ...
, the 100-story tower was originally planned for construction in 1997, but work was temporarily interrupted by the
Asian Financial Crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
in the late 1990s, and was later paused to accommodate design changes by the Mori Building Company. The building of the tower was financed by several multinational firms, including Chinese, Japanese, and Hong Kong banks, as well as by the Japanese developer and American and European investors. The American investment bank
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the f ...
coordinated the tower's financing for Mori Building.
Construction
The tower's foundation stone was laid on 27 August 1997. In the late 1990s, the Pierre de Smet Building Corporation suffered a funding shortage caused by the
Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
of 1997–98, which halted the project after the foundations were completed. On 13 February 2003, the Mori Group increased the building's height to and 101 stories, from the initial plans for a , 94-stories building. The new building used the foundations of the original design, and construction work was resumed on 16 November 2003.
A fire broke out in the incomplete SWFC on 14 August 2007. The fire was first noticed on the 40th floor, around 16:30 (GMT +8), and soon the smoke was clearly seen outside the building. By 17:45, the fire had been extinguished. The damage was reported to be slight, and nobody was injured in the accident.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, but according to some sources the preliminary investigation suggested workers' electric weldings caused the fire.
The building reached its full height of on 14 September 2007 after the installation of the final steel girder.
[ (The video has been removed due to expiry of the copyright).] The final cladding panels were installed in mid-June 2008, and elevator installation was finished in mid-July. The Shanghai World Financial Center was declared complete on 17 July 2008, and was officially opened on 28 August.
On 30 August 2008, the tower's observation floors were opened to the public.
Architecture
The most distinctive feature of the SWFC's design is the trapezoid aperture at the peak. The original design specified a circular aperture, in diameter, to reduce the stresses of wind pressure
and to reference the Chinese mythological depiction of the sky as a circle.
It also resembled a Chinese
moon gate due to its circular form in
Chinese architecture
Chinese architecture ( Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, th ...
. However, this initial design began facing protests from some Chinese, including the mayor of Shanghai,
Chen Liangyu, who considered it too similar to the
rising sun design of the
Japanese flag. Pedersen then suggested that a bridge be placed at the bottom of the aperture to make it less circular.
On 18 October 2005, KPF submitted an alternative design to Mori Building and a trapezoidal hole replaced the circle at the top of the tower, which in addition to changing the controversial design, would also be cheaper and easier to implement, according to the architects.
Foreigners and Chinese alike informally refer to the building as "the
bottle opener". Metal replicas of the building that function as actual bottle openers are sold in the tower's gift shop.
The tower features three separate
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 ...
s which constitute the floors above and below the aperture opening. The height of the lowest observation deck, located on the 94th floor, is ; the second, on the 97th floor, is at a height of ; and the highest, on the 100th floor, is high.
The skyscraper's roof height is set at , and was at one point the highest roof in the world. Before construction on the roof was completed, the SWFC's total height was scheduled to be so that it would exceed the height of the
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 (; stylized as TAIPEI 101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a supertall skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. This building was officially classified as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until the 2009 ...
, but a height limit was imposed, allowing the roof to reach a maximum height of 492 metres. Architect
William Pedersen and developer
Minoru Mori
was considered to be one of Japan's most powerful and influential building tycoons. He joined the real estate business of his father, Taikichiro Mori, after graduating from Tokyo University and was president and CEO of Mori Building, of which h ...
resisted suggestions to add a spire that would surpass that of Taipei 101 and perhaps
One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Me ...
, calling the SWFC a "broad-shouldered building". The SWFC boasts a gross floor area of more than , 31 elevators, and 33 escalators.
Structural efficiency
The tower's trapezoid aperture is made up of structural steel and reinforced concrete. A large number of forces, such as wind loads, the people in the building and heavy equipment housed in the building, act on the SWFC's structure. These compressive and bending forces are carried down to the ground by the diagonal-braced frame (with added outrigger trusses). The design employs an effective use of material, because it decreases the thickness of the outer core shear walls and the weight of the structural steel in the perimeter.
Tenants
Shanghai World Financial Center hosts the office building for many international financial companies, including those involved in
banking
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
,
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
,
securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any fo ...
and
fund management, such as
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Delo ...
,
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the f ...
,
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the gro ...
,
Commerzbank
Commerzbank AG () is a major German bank operating as a universal bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. In the 2019 financial year, the bank was the second largest in Germany by the total value of its balance sheet. Founded in 1870 in Hambu ...
,
Bank of Yokohama
is the largest regional bank in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while exten ...
,
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
is a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution headquartered in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The group operates in retail, corporate, and investment banking segment worldwide. It provides financial products and s ...
and
Korea Development Bank. Google's Shanghai branch is located on the 60th-61st floors.
Transport
*
Shanghai Metro
The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 municipal districts and to Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Served as a part of Shang ...
:
Line 2 Line 2 or 2 Line may refer to:
Public transport Americas
*2 (New York City Subway service), a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway
*2 Line (Sound Transit), a light rail line in Seattle, Washington
*Line 2 Bloor–Dan ...
at
Lujiazui Station is a 10-minute walk to the center.
Awards
Shanghai World Financial Center was named by architects as the best skyscraper completed in 2008, receiving both the Best Tall Building Overall and Asia & Australasia awards from the
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United State ...
(CTBUH).
CTBUH's Carol Willis, head of New York's Skyscraper Museum, stated: "The simplicity of its form as well as its size dramatizes the idea of the skyscraper."[ Architect Tim Johnson noted its innovative structural design: "Steel trusses guard against the forces of wind and earthquake and made the building lighter, made it use less steel, and contributed to its sustainability."][ Johnson described the SWFC's structure as "nothing short of genius."][
]
Gallery
File:Shanghaiviewpic1.jpg, Shanghai World Financial Center, visible behind the Oriental Pearl Tower
The Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower () is a TV tower in Shanghai. Its location at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong New Area by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund, makes it a distinct landmark in the area. Its principal de ...
.
File:Observation deck of the Shanghai World Financial Center.jpg, Inside the tower's observation deck.
File:0352 20090626 Shanghai.jpg, Shanghai World Financial Center (left) and the Jin Mao Tower.
File:Shanghai World Financial Center + Jin Mao Tower.jpg, The Shanghai World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower adjacent to each other.
File:Night shot of the Shanghai World Financial Centre.jpg, At night.
File:Shanghai_world_financial_centre.JPG, Next to the Jin Mao Tower.
File:CWC_9636.jpg, Beside the Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. at night.
File:Shanghai_World_Financial_Center_200802.jpg, Under construction.
File:Shanghai_world_financial_center.jpg, Under construction.
File:SWFC_May_2007.jpg, Under construction.
File:Shanghai_scycrapers.jpg, Beside Jin Mao Tower.
File:Shanghai World Financial Center during the night.JPG, Shanghai World Financial Center pictured at night.
File:Shanghai World Financial Center 200802-2.jpg, The aperture under construction at the top of the building.
File:SWFC mural.JPG, Stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
mural depicting the original design.
File:Three Bigs Far.jpg, The SWFC, Jin Mao Tower and incomplete Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. (far right) in August 2012.
File:Shanghai Lujiazui Building.jpg, The SWFC, Jin Mao Tower, and the Shanghai Tower near completion in January 2014.
File:View of Jin Mao from SWFC.jpg, View of Jin Mao Tower from the SWFC observation deck.
File:Shanghai_World_Financial_Center_(Top).jpg, Top of the building.
File:Shanghai World Financial Tower seen from Shanghai Tower.jpg, Shanghai World Financial Tower seen from Shanghai Tower
Shanghai Tower () is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. , 2016.
See also
* List of tallest buildings in Shanghai
Similar towers
* Kingdom Centre, building in Saudi Arabia
References
External links
Shanghai WFC official website
Shanghai World Financial Center observatory
Kohn Pedersen Fox Shanghai WFC project page
Mori Building Co. Shanghai WFC project page
Shanghai WFC
on CTBUH
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...
's Skyscraper Center database
The Shanghai WFC: a case study on Constructalia
Emporis.com data page on the Shanghai WFC
Window cleaners at work on the Shanghai WFC (video from the observation deck)
*
{{Supertall skyscrapers , current
Skyscrapers in Shanghai
World Financial Centers
Office buildings completed in 2008
Landmarks in Shanghai
Kohn Pedersen Fox buildings
Mori Building
Retail buildings in China
Skyscraper office buildings in Shanghai
Skyscraper hotels in Shanghai
Pudong
2008 establishments in China