527
Global
Height rank

FKI Tower

Seoul
Height 245.5 m / 805 ft
Floors 50
Official Name
The current legal building name.

FKI Tower

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

FKI Head Office Building, Federation of Korean Industries Head Office 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, 2013

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

South Korea

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

Seoul

Address

Yeoiudo-dong

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."

245.5 m / 805 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).
245.5 m / 805 ft
Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
234.8 m / 770 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).

50

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

6

# of Parking Spaces
Number of Parking Spaces refers to the total number of car parking spaces contained within a particular building.

632

# 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).

33

Top Elevator Speed
Top Elevator Speed refers to the top speed capable of being achieved by an elevator within a particular building, measured in meters per second.

6 m/s

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.

116,037 m² / 1,249,012 ft²

Rankings
#
527
Tallest in the World
#
330
Tallest in Asia
#
26
Tallest in South Korea
#
6
Tallest in Seoul
#
219
Tallest Office Building in the World
#
145
Tallest Office Building in Asia
#
4
Tallest Office Building in South Korea
#
3
Tallest Office Building in Seoul
#
230
Tallest Composite Building in the World
#
195
Tallest Composite Building in Asia
#
7
Tallest Composite Building in South Korea
#
4
Tallest Composite Building in Seoul
Construction Schedule
2009

Proposed

2010

Construction Start

2013

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.

Structural 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.

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.

Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Façade

These are firms that consult on the design of a building's façade. May often be referred to as "Cladding," "Envelope," "Exterior Wall," or "Curtain Wall" Consultant, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Façade Consultant" exclusively.

Façade Maintenance
Landscape
Wind
Owner/Developer
Federation of Korean Industries
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.

Chang-Jo Architects
Structural 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.

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.

Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction; Ssangyong Engineering & Construction; STX Engineering & Construction
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Acoustics
Shen Milsom Wilke, Inc.
Civil
V3 Companies
Cost
Construction Cost Systems
Façade

These are firms that consult on the design of a building's façade. May often be referred to as "Cladding," "Envelope," "Exterior Wall," or "Curtain Wall" Consultant, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Façade Consultant" exclusively.

Façade Maintenance
Landscape
Vertical Transportation
Fortune Consultants, Ltd.
Wind
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).

Cladding
ILJIN
Elevator
thyssenkrupp

CTBUH Awards & Distinctions

Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia 2014 Award of Excellence

2014 CTBUH Awards

CTBUH Initiatives

Fourth Building Tall Lecture Series: Greening Tall

1 February 2018 - Event

Videos

28 March 2018 | Seoul

Building Tall Skyscraper Lecture Series: Naturalizing the Vertical Realm

Thursday, February 1, 2018. Chicago, United States of America. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) held...

Research

01 December 2017

Multitasking Façade: How to Combine BIPV with Passive Solar Mitigation Strategies in a High-Rise Curtain Wall

Juan Betancur, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

This paper outlines the processes and strategies studied and selected by the team during the design stages of the project for the incorporation of BIPV...

About FKI Tower

The new head offices for the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) are a major new addition to the skyline of Seoul, Korea. The tower features an innovative exterior wall, designed specifically for the project. The building’s unique skin helps reduce internal heating and cooling loads and collects energy through photovoltaic panels that are integrated into the spandrel areas of the southeast and southwest faces. FKI clearly illustrates the advancement in building facades from simple wall systems to high-performance, integrated architectural and engineering design solutions.

FKI’s unique exterior wall system combines maximum access to views, energy efficiency strategies and energy generation technologies. By angling the spandrel panels 30 degrees toward the sun, the amount of energy collected by the photovoltaic panels is maximized. Below the spandrel panels, the vision panels are angled 15 degrees toward the ground, minimizing the amount of direct sun radiation and glare.

The use of building integrated photovoltaic panels (BIPV) was seen as an architecturally appealing way to meet a strict zoning requirement that 5 percent of the building’s energy be created onsite, while the optimization of the panels became a driving factor in developing the architectural expression. The local electric utility company (KEPCO) provided a favorable 5-to-1 buy-back rate for onsite green-energy generation. The payback for the BIPV panels, which would have typically been 30-35 years, was reduced to about seven years, due to these incentives.

As part of the initial design process, an Ecotech model was used to determine the optimal areas for BIPV on an orthogonal building, given the surrounding buildings which partially shade the site. It was determined that BIPV would be best used on the southeast and southwest faces, above Level 14. Not all sides of the building are currently suitable for BIPV; therefore, it was important to design panels that were interchangeable with insulated spandrel panels for maximum flexibility, without a significant change in the symmetry of building expression. The design also allows for the panels to be replaced, as new technology that can take advantage of indirect light becomes available.

The result is a unique folded exterior texture that is both purposeful and visually distinctive. Benefits include a reduction of glare and heat gains from direct sunlight, while maintaining a high level of indirect light. Through most of the day, the building is able to use the geometry of the exterior wall to self-shade the perimeter spaces that would normally be inundated with direct sunlight.

FKI features an expansive rooftop atrium garden that also has custom photovoltaic panels. As with the exterior wall panels, the ideal angle of the panel placement on the roof was studied in detail. Within the limited area of FKI’s roof, it was determined that a 10-degree angle allowed for more panels to be installed closer together, minimizing the effect of the panels casting shadows on each other and ultimately producing more solar energy for the building.

The sculptural podium piece’s amenities, available for public use, include a banquet hall, a central restaurant and a conference center. Site orientation was altered during the course of design, sliding the tower to the west. This opened up more site frontage and allowed the podium to be closer to the street, giving it a presence it would not have had if located behind the tower, and allows more space for outdoor public landscaped courtyards.

CTBUH Awards & Distinctions

Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia 2014 Award of Excellence

2014 CTBUH Awards

28 March 2018 | Seoul

Building Tall Skyscraper Lecture Series: Naturalizing the Vertical Realm

Thursday, February 1, 2018. Chicago, United States of America. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) held...

06 November 2014 | Seoul

2014 Awards - Session 1 Q&A

Dr. Peter Irwin, Founding Partner, RWDI Consulting Engineers, Michael Adlerstein, Assistant Secretary-General & Executive Director, United Nations Capital Master Plan, John Gering, Managing Partner, HLW...

06 November 2014 | Seoul

Best Tall Building Featured Finalist: Putting a New Face on the “Glass Box”: FKI Head Office Building

The new head offices for the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) are a major new addition to the skyline of Seoul, Korea. The tower features...

06 November 2014 | Seoul

Interview: FKI Head Office Building

Juan Betancur, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is interviewed by Chris Bentley regarding the Best Tall Building Featured Finalist, the FKI Head Office Building,...

05 February 2010 | Seoul

Tall and Supertall Buildings: Structure and Skin Performance

There are many challenges and opportunities in designing the structure and skin of high performing tall buildings. Examples from different regions highlight responses to wind...

01 December 2017

Multitasking Façade: How to Combine BIPV with Passive Solar Mitigation Strategies in a High-Rise Curtain Wall

Juan Betancur, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

This paper outlines the processes and strategies studied and selected by the team during the design stages of the project for the incorporation of BIPV...

01 December 2017

The Ultra-Modern FKI Tower

John Peronto, Thornton Tomasetti

A modern and highly-sustainable addition to the skyline of Seoul, South Korea has been completed; the Federation of Korean Industries Headquarters (FKI). The signature saw-toothed...