1692
Global
Height rank

BEA Financial Tower

Shanghai
Height 197.7 m / 649 ft
Floors 42
Official Name
The current legal building name.

BEA Financial Tower

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

Global Financial Building

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed, 2009

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

China

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Shanghai

Postal Code

200120

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

office

Structural Material
Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered a “steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Reinforced Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars.

Precast Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning system are constructed from steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. steel, concrete, timber), one on top of the other. For example, a steel/concrete indicates a steel structural system located on top of a concrete structural system, with the opposite true of concrete/steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used in a composite building’s core, columns, and floor spanning separately.

composite

Core
Reinforced Concrete
Columns
Concrete Encased Steel
Floor Spanning
Steel
Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

197.7 m / 649 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
197.7 m / 649 ft
Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
174.3 m / 572 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

42

Floors Below Ground
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.

3

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

12

Tower GFA
Tower GFA refers to the total gross floor area within the tower footprint, not including adjoining podiums, connected buildings or other towers within the development.

70,000 m² / 753,474 ft²

Rankings
#
1692
Tallest in the World
#
61
Tallest in Shanghai
#
787
Tallest Office Building in the World
#
41
Tallest Office Building in Shanghai
#
508
Tallest Composite Building in the World
#
423
Tallest Composite Building in Asia
#
26
Tallest Composite Building in Shanghai
Construction Schedule
2004

Proposed

2006

Construction Start

2009

Completed

Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Architect of Record

Usually takes on the balance of the architectural effort not executed by the "Design Architect," typically responsible for the construction documents, conforming to local codes, etc. May often be referred to as "Executive," "Associate," or "Local" Architect, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Architect of Record" exclusively.

MEP Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Architect of Record

Usually takes on the balance of the architectural effort not executed by the "Design Architect," typically responsible for the construction documents, conforming to local codes, etc. May often be referred to as "Executive," "Associate," or "Local" Architect, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Architect of Record" exclusively.

MEP Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

About BEA Financial Tower

BEA Financial Tower development is a grade-A office building situated in a prominent location within the Lu Jia Zui commercial and financial district of Shanghai’s Pudong. The tower sits next to the Jin Mao Building and the World Financial Center beside the Yang-Pu river and therefore is highly visible along the Pudong skyline directly from the Bund.

The building footprint responds to the boundary requirements by breaking down the built volumes programmatically into two wedge-shaped entities: the tower block and the low-rise building which is dedicated to restaurants, public facilities and support services. A glazed atrium separates the tower from the low-rise podium; the atrium and the low-rise are staggered volumetrically away from the tower’s northwestern façade.

The tower is composed of a central circulation and service core which is flanked by two floor plates. The depth of the floor plates were carefully designed to allow natural light to all office space within. The west wing of the building rises above the other two components creating a stepped effect to bring a level of clarity and directness to the building’s massing. Each element functions independently but is bound into a singular composition by complementary materials and modularity. A sense of the greenery being swept vertically into the building is captured by positioning sky gardens on the various refuge floors and creating a visual link to the park from ground level upwards.

Optimizing city and river views on the north sides whilst minimizing glare required a façade design composed of large areas of glazing with vertical fins that use a surface frit to shade the interior from low-glare sun angles. As well as producing an elongating effect, the fins add visual interest and depth to the façade and allows for special night lighting effects. Overall, four different types of cladding were established in order to minimize solar gain and building heat load on the south west and south. Where the percentage of glazed areas is reduced, horizontal shading devices are provided and low-E glass is used. Each type of cladding is designed to deal with specific environmental aspects: reducing solar gain, reducing glare, mitigating winter heat loss and maximizing aspect.