|
Guangzhou snubs design for tallest tower
By Zheng Caixiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-11-19 22:31
The Guangzhou municipal government on Friday rejected a design for the
construction of the world's highest building.
This design won the public bidding for the
western tower of the twin skyscrapers.
[newsphoto] |
Design No 4 for the western tower of twin skyscrapers in Guangzhou, the
capital of Guangdong Province, requires the building to reach a height of 608.8
metres, becoming the tallest structure in the world.
It is more than 100 metres higher than the 101-storey World Financial Centre
in Taipei, Taiwan Province. Reaching 508 metres, the Taipei World Financial
Centre is currently the world's tallest building.
Design No 8, titled "a long crystal," has recently won the public bidding for
the western tower of the twin skyscrapers in the southern Chinese metropolis,
according to a senior urban planning official.
Pan An, director of the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Urban Planning, said
the design No. 8 requires the building to reach a height of 400 metres, 200
metres lower than the design No 11.
It is also 20 metres lower than the Shanghai Jinmao Tower, currently the
tallest building on the Chinese mainland.
But it will replace the city's 391-metre-high Guangzhou CITIC Plaza to be the
tallest building in Guangdong Province, Pan said.
A total of 12 domestic and overseas companies have participated in the final
round of the public biddings to design the tower.
Ye Ronggui, a professor in the Architectural Department of South China
University of Engineering, said the design No 8 would fit in better with the
styles and features of architecture in the southern province.
"In addition to saving construction costs, the special design helps the tower
resist typhoons, storms and other natural disasters that frequently strike the
city," Ye said.
Construction of the western tower is expected to start next year, while
construction of the eastern tower is scheduled to begin later in 2006.
Located on the Pearl River in Guangzhou's Tianhe District, the twin towers
will become new architectural symbols of Guangzhou and a new tourist attraction.
Construction of the twin skyscrapers will cost more than 10 billion yuan
(US$1.2 billion).
The local government has decided to raise the large sum of construction funds
needed using a variety of sources.
The distance between the western and eastern towers will reach 300 metres.
The two towers will occupy a total ground area of 115,522.94 square metres in
Guangzhou's premier business district.
In addition to luxury hotel rooms, the western tower will also include
offices, restaurants, bars, international conference halls and a roof
garden.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top China
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
