Bank of China, Hong Kong
COMMISSIONING:
Commissioned by The Bank of China to I.M. Pei and built from 1985 to 1990 at a cost of US$130 million.
CONSTRUCTION:
369 metres of steel frame and glass curtain wall arranged in a geometric array of triangles. The triangles feature as 4 vertical triangular shafts, that constitute the central core of the building, and triangular bracing. A central, load-bearing, internal pyramid is also placed a third of the way up the building to disperse stress loads to the four main supporting columns placed at each corner of the building.
INNOVATION:
This building is another that combines innovative design with practical requirements giving a very distinctive example of architecture in a city that already has many innovative modern buildings. The emphasis is on maximising internal, usable space on the building's 72 floors by ensuring load-bearing features do not intrude on the inner areas; instead loads are distributed to the building's four corners. In addition, the building needs to be capable of resisting the typhoon-class winds that are typical in Hong Kong and this has been elegantly achieved by repeating the triangular geometry of the building by using triangular bracing on the faces of the building.
The building comprises four vertical triangular shafts that combine at the base to make a cube. At the top of the cube, the Northern triangular shaft halts and is topped by a 7-storey, triangular, diagonal, glass roof. The other 3 triangular shafts continue up until the next point, equal in height to the base cube, where the Western shaft halts and is topped in the same way as the Northern shaft. This is repeated for the Eastern triangular shaft leaving only the Southern shaft to extend to the full height of the building. Although the office space of the building could be increased by over a third by dispensing with this staggering of the verticals we would have just been left with yet another conventional square office block of which there are already enough in the world as it is.
The building's bracing, steel frame and glass are coloured silver giving an impressive uniformity of appearance. Although the building is exceeded in height by Central Plaza in nearby Wanchai, Central Plaza suffers from a mix of silver, gold and hand-painted tiling that disrupts the overall form and appearance of that building. The Bank of China has a much more aesthetically appealing appearance that also attracts the eye more readily, even amongst the other distinguished buildings of Wanchai, Pacific Plaza and Central District.
