2611
Global
Height rank

Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters

Hong Kong
Height 178.8 m / 587 ft
Floors 43
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters

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

HSBC Main 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, 1985

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.

Hong Kong

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.

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."

178.8 m / 587 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).
178.8 m / 587 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).

43

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

4

# 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).

28

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.

99,171 m² / 1,067,468 ft²

Rankings
#
2611
Tallest in the World
#
1166
Tallest Office Building in the World
#
37
Tallest Office Building in Hong Kong
#
240
Tallest Steel Building in the World
#
88
Tallest Steel Building in Asia
#
35
Tallest Steel Building in China
#
8
Tallest Steel Building in Hong Kong
Construction Schedule
1983

Construction Start

1985

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).

Material Supplier

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

Owner/Developer
HSBC
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.

Arup Associates; Cleveland Bridge Ltd.
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).

Material Supplier

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

CTBUH Initiatives

Ken Shuttleworth: A Journey of Design and Discovery

17 August 2016 - Event

CITAB-CTBUH Name 2016 China Tall Building Award Recipients

25 February 2016 - CTBUH News

Videos

31 October 2008 | Hong Kong

Foster in China

Eminent academic and author Chris Abel presents a detailed overview of the Chinese work of architecture firm Norman Foster and Partners at S. R. Crown...

Research

11 October 2019

Tall Buildings in Numbers: 50 Years of Tall Building Evolution

CTBUH Research

The default image of the skyscraper for the past 50 years in the public imagination has likely been the extruded, rectilinear corporate “box,” derived from...

About Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters

As the formal exchange of power away from British control in Hong Kong was approaching, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank wanted to make a bold statement when the need for a new headquarters was conceived. Planning began in the 1970’s with the need to construct over one million square feet of space (92,903 square meters), all of which needed to be built quickly with a very tight construction schedule. The project would also need to address the nature of banking in Hong Kong and adherence to Feng Shui principles.

All of these factors led to the design of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters in a method which rethought how an office tower should be composed. The short construction schedule required prefabrication of many building components in a global supply chain sourced from the United Kingdom, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and Italy all then assembled in Hong Kong. The open space needs of the bank led to the placement of elevators, stairways and building services at the ends of the office floors, rather than in the typical center of the floorplate. The building then took on a rectilinear form, with the broad sides capturing views of the mountains and Victoria Harbour while the floors were suspended between the cores and pairs of steel masts located at the ends of the building.

The building’s floor space is then broken down as a series of three office towers rising to 29, 36 and 44 levels, all arranged around a central indoor atrium with blocks of office floors clustered as a series of vertically stacked villages. The boundaries of the office clusters are visually expressed on the exterior of the building as well, with large triangular trusses framing double height floors which serve as communal areas. A mirrored sun scoop reflects natural daylight into the atrium and through a glass ceiling between the interior of the atrium and an open-air public plaza below that has since become a popular gathering spot for picnics on weekends. A pair of escalators then links the plaza to the banking hall elevated above the ground level.

The flexibility of the open floor plans has allowed the company to adapt the spaces since the building has opened, including the construction of a dealers room into one floor which could not have been added within a conventional office building with a traditional column grid. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters has become local icon, achieving the original goal of creating a headquarters in a unique tower that would become a long lasting landmark in Hong Kong as the modern skyline has rapidly grown up around it.

11 October 2019

Tall Buildings in Numbers: 50 Years of Tall Building Evolution

CTBUH Research

The default image of the skyscraper for the past 50 years in the public imagination has likely been the extruded, rectilinear corporate “box,” derived from...

01 December 2016

An Overview of Structural & Aesthetic Developments in Tall Buildings Using Exterior Bracing & Diagrid Systems

Kheir Al-Kodmany, University of Illinois; Mir M. Ali, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

There is much architectural and engineering literature which discusses the virtues of exterior bracing and diagrid systems in regards to sustainability - two systems which...

17 August 2016

Ken Shuttleworth: A Journey of Design and Discovery

CTBUH Sydney held a collaborative event with UNSW Built Environment, welcoming British architect Ken Shuttleworth, founder of Make, to Australia.

25 February 2016

CITAB-CTBUH Name 2016 China Tall Building Award Recipients

CITAB and CTBUH are pleased to announce the award recipients for the inaugural CITAB-CTBUH 2016 China Tall Building Awards.