Ping An International Finance Center

Ping An Finance Centre
Chinese: 平安金融中心; pinyin: píng'ān jīnróng zhōngxīn
The Ping An Finance Centre in December 2020
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeDining, observation, offices, shopping mall
Location5033 Yitian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Coordinates22°32′11″N 114°03′02″E / 22.536399°N 114.050446°E / 22.536399; 114.050446
Groundbreaking29 August 2009
Construction started18 January 2010[1]
Completed28 March 2017[1]
Cost$1.5 billion (USD, estimated)[3]
OwnerPing An Life Insurance Company of China[1]
Height
Architectural599.1 m (1,966 ft)
Top floor555.1 m (1,821 ft)[1]
Observatory562.1 m (1,844 ft)
Technical details
Floor count115 above ground levels, plus 5 below basements ground levels[1]
Floor area459,187 m2 (4,942,650 sq ft)[1]
Lifts/elevators80 (mall included)[1][2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates[4]
DeveloperPing An Life Insurance Company of China[1]
EngineerJ. Roger Preston, Limited (MEP)[6]
Structural engineerThornton Tomasetti[5]
Main contractorChina Construction First Building Group[1]
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese平安金融中心
Traditional Chinese平安金融中心
Literal meaningPing An Finance Centre

The Ping An Finance Center (Chinese: 平安金融中心; pinyin: Píng'ān Jīnróng Zhōngxīn) is a 115-storey, 599.1 m (1,966 ft) supertall skyscraper in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.[7] The building was commissioned by Ping An Insurance and designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. It was completed in 2017,[1] and is the tallest building in Shenzhen, the 2nd tallest building in China and the 5th tallest building in the world.[8][3] It also broke the record of having the highest observation deck in a building at 562 m (1,844 ft).[9] It is the second largest skyscraper in the world by floor area after Azabudai Hills Main Tower in Tokyo, Japan.

Progress

PAFC Mall in April 2019

The building is located within the Central Business District of Shenzhen in Futian. Its 18,931 m2 lot was purchased by Ping An Group via auction at a price of 1.6568 billion RMB on November 6, 2007. Design of the building began in 2008 with Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates providing the architectural design and Thornton Tomasetti providing structural design.[3] Its foundation stone was laid on August 29, 2009, and construction started in November the same year. China Construction First Building Group was hired as the general contractor to construct the building.[3]

In March 2013, the construction process was temporarily halted, due to the suspected use of concrete made with unprocessed sea sand, which could corrode the steel structure.[10] Construction resumed on the building after sample testing.[citation needed]

On the morning of 15 July, 2014, upon a 10-meter-long steel column being lifted to place, the skyscraper exceeded 443.8 meters in height, surpassing the KK100 Tower to become the tallest building in Shenzhen.

The building was topped out on 30 April, 2015, and became the second tallest skyscraper in China at a height of 599.1 meters. The original plan was to add a 60-meter-long antenna atop the building to surpass the Shanghai Tower and become the tallest building in China. However, in February 2015, it was decided that the antenna would not top the tower due to the possibility that it might obstruct flight paths.[11][12][13]

Features

The building contains office, hotel and retail spaces, a conference center, and a high-end shopping mall. An observation deck named Free Sky is located on floor 116.[14] As its name suggests, it is also the headquarters of Ping An Insurance. The design of the building is meant to be unique and elegant, and to represent the history and achievements of the main tenant. A stainless-steel facade that weighs approximately 1,700 metric tons provides a modern design to the building.[3]

The building has a gross floor area of 378,600 m2. The 115-storey tower has a width-to-height aspect ratio of 1:10 and also has an 11-story podium. Including the podium, the building has 495,520 m2 of floor space. A five-level basement adds 90,000 m2. The 620,000 metric ton tower has eight main columns which form the superstructure. The column dimensions range from approximately 6 by 3.2 m at the lowest level to 2.9 by 1.4 m at the top of the tower.[3]

Elevators

The Ping An International Finance Center is equipped with 33 double deck elevators,[2] travelling at maximum speeds of up to 10 m/s.

Climbing attempts

The Ping An Financial Center building has been the subject of frequent rooftopping attempts. In January 2015, daredevil Malaysian photographer Keow Wee Loong climbed the then incomplete building and released video footage and a photo taken from a crane at the tower's top.[15][16]

The structure was subsequently climbed during the period of the Chinese New Year on 19 February, 2015 by two Russian and Ukrainian urban explorers, Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov from Ontheroofs, who further climbed out to a crane above the under-construction tower and documented their ascent with video and photos.[17][18]

Phase 2

The second building of the project, a 290-metre, 47-story skyscraper known as the South Tower, has been completed. Construction began in April 2014 and it opened in 2018/19. The complex includes a 5-star Park Hyatt hotel, a planned retail bridge connecting the two skyscrapers from levels 3 through 6.[19]

Current status

Low occupancy

According to South China Morning Post, almost 30 percent of the office space remained empty in the second quarter of 2019.[20]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ping An International Finance Centre.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ping An Finance Center". CTBUH. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Schindler to equip China's tallest building". Schindler. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Poon, Dennis C.K.; Gottlebe, Torsten G. (December 2017). "Sky High in Shenzhen". Civil Engineering. 87 (12). Reston, Virginia: American Society of Civil Engineers: 48–53. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Ping An Finance Center". Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Ping An International Finance Center". Thornton Tomasetti. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Ping an Finance Center - the Skyscraper Center".
  7. ^ "Ping An Finance Center - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Work on China's 838-meter high 'Sky City' starts". Emirates 24/7. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  9. ^ ctbuh. "World's Highest Observation Decks". www.ctbuh.org. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  10. ^ Poor-Quality Chinese Concrete Could Lead to Skyscraper Collapses Wired.com
  11. ^ "平安国际金融中心成深圳最高楼 年底将成世界第二". Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  12. ^ "深圳平安金融中心". Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  13. ^ "深圳第一高楼平安国际金融中心封顶 高度超过600米". Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Ping An Finance Center facts and information". The Tower Info. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Malaysian rooftopper hates to be called Spiderman – Nation – The Star Online". thestar.com.my.
  16. ^ "WATCH: Don't Look Down: Terrifying View from World's Second Tallest Building". yahoo.com. 3 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Climbing the Shenzhen Finance Center ontheroofs story with photos and video". Ontheroofs. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016.
  18. ^ Chan, Casey. "Watching these guys climb a 2165-foot tall tower made my nerves go crazy". Sploid. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  19. ^ "Ping An Finance Center: Pioneering China's Tallest – Efficiencies of Forms and Structures". CTBUH. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  20. ^ Liu, Pearl (10 December 2019). "China's skyscraper developers have to pay for their vanity as the frenzy to scale new heights lead to record-breaking vacancies". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 23 February 2021. (Subscription required.)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pingan International Finance Center.