International Commerce Centre Hong Kong, ICC Building Kowloon, Union Square Property

International Commerce Centre Hong Kong

HK Skyscraper building design by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), Architects

ICC HK from harbour:

photo © Andrew McRae

8 Apr 2011

International Commerce Centre Hong Kong Building

World’s Highest Hotel Opens:

The Ritz-carlton, Hong Kong, Housed In The International Commerce Centre

Designed by leading world architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), the world’s highest hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong is now open. Located within the International Commerce Centre (ICC), the new hotel stands 490 meters above Victoria Harbour, occupying floors 102 to 118 of the building, offering guests a 360-degree view of the entire city and surrounding islands.

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong – view across Victoria Harbour:

picture : Takuya Watanabe

With interiors designed by Singapore’s LTW, the hotel includes 312 guest rooms with spectacular city and harbour views. Other hotel amenities include six distinctive dining venues, an 860-square-meter spa by ESPA, as well as a glass-enclosed infinity pool with LED screen ceiling and an outdoor terrace with a glass-enclosed bar, both on the 118th floor.

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong – interior:

pictures from ING

The ICC, a single tower built over a sophisticated transportation network spanning the Pearl River Delta, encapsulates the essence of Hong Kong within one destination: world-class hospitality, high-powered finance, global tourism, and luxury shopping.

KPF Managing Principal Paul Katz said, “We applaud Sun Hung Kai Properties Group on the completion of the final element of the building and on the opening of the highest hotel in the world. This building type is very important to KPF, especially in Hong Kong, a city that has taken the lead in high rise development.

ICC speaks to the promise of the tall building as a sustainable paradigm, in which individual buildings form part of a larger ecosystem of vertical centres linked by horizontal networks of public transportation.”

In 2015, the introduction of an Express Rail Link (XRL) will transform the region, by connecting Hong Kong with the major cities in the Pearl River Delta. Soon to join the ICC are KPF’s Ping An IFC in Shenzhen and Chow Tai Fook in Guangzhou Center, both targeting LEED Gold certification for completion with the XRL.

The ICC epitomizes KPF’s goal of incorporating multiple uses into a single tall tower, creating a “vertical city” that relies on elevators instead of cars, reinforcing the firm’s sustainable agenda. As a result of the rapid growth in population and migration into cities worldwide, there is an increasing need for sustainable solutions.

Rather than augmenting urban sprawl, KPF’s paradigm for vertical living maximises the potential of centralised city density, preserving land resources and reducing energy usage.

The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong – interior:

pictures from ING