Union Square (Hong Kong)
Union Square (Chinese: 九龍 站 上蓋 物業 發展 計劃) is a complex of residential and commercial properties including a large shopping center, with a total of 16 skyscrapers. It is located in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong in the west of Kowloon on an area that was created by landfills and land reclamation. In 2010, the site housed some of the tallest buildings in Hong Kong, including the tallest commercial building in Hong Kong, the 118-story International Commerce Center (484 meters high), and the tallest residential tower in Hong Kong, The Cullinan (270 meters high). On the ground level or underground in the complex there is a shopping center and an MTR subway station , which was included in the initial planning.
The building complex was built as part of the West Kowloon Development project (often also Kowloon Station Development).
Planning, concept
The first design for the development of the site and the coordination of access to the MTR metro system in Hong Kong in 1992, the British architect Sir Terry Farrell instructed (architects Farrell and also TFP Farrell), inter alia, the MTR Kowloon Station designed and was responsible for their integration into the overall concept. In 2001, the architecture firm Wong & Ouyang was entrusted with the management of the last projects. The following architecture firms were also involved in the individual projects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, AGC Design Limited, P & T Architects & Engineers Limited, Simon Kwan & Associates Limited, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
The Union Square was created in several phases, which can be equated with the individual projects. There are seven so-called phases (or sections):
- Section 1: “The Waterfront” (completed in 2000), six towers, 142 meters high
- Section 2: "The Sorrento" (ended 2003), five towers, 256 meters high (Sorrento 1)
- Section 3: “The Arch” (completed in 2005), four towers, 231 meters high
- Section 4: "The Harborside" (completed in 2003), three connected towers, 251 meters high
- Section 5 has been withdrawn
- Section 6: "The Cullinan" (completed in 2007), two twin towers, 270 meters high
- Section 7: “International Commerce Center” (completed in 2010), a tower 484 meters high
The original names of the individual objects were accordingly Kowloon Station Phase 1 or Union Square Phase 1 etc.
criticism
A 2013 study by the University of Hong Kong, led by Sin Ho-ting, found that many people who live or work on the site are isolated and feel isolated, cut off from their surroundings. The square is surrounded by motorways and expressways, and walking there is cumbersome and unattractive. The square is not visible to outsiders, so it is not open to the public, adds urban planning critic and district council member Paul Zimmerman ; in this context he spoke about "an island of the rich, separated from their surroundings". Architect Terry Farrell, who was involved in the planning, shared similar concerns. Much of what led to this exclusion was predetermined and couldn't be changed, he added.
Location, facilities
Union Square is located in the historical area of Tsim Sha Tsui , Kowloon , Hong Kong on land reclaimed by land that was reclaimed as part of the West Kowloon Reclamation land reclamation project . The project started in the mid-1990s and made about 340 hectares of land available. Among other things, a motorway and rail link to the new International Airport with Kowloon Station and Union Square itself were built on the land that was gained .
The facility is located between Jordan Road and Austin Road, close to the port. The Union Square area covers 13.54 hectares (or 135,400 m²), the total built area including the underground floors is then 1,679,552 m². The Kowloon Station of the MTR subway opened in 1998, it serves the Airport Express and Tung Chung Line and connects Union Square with the main island Hong Kong Island ( Central Station ) and the new airport.
The built-up area of the area consists of 5,866 residential units (a total of 608.026 m²), 2,230 hotel rooms and 2,490 apartments with a total of 167,472 m² of usable space and 231,778 m² of usable space as office space. The properties thus have a total gross floor area (GFA) of 1,090,026 m². According to another source, there are 2,176 apartments and 312 hotel rooms.
The living space in the properties was not rented, but sold. Union Square property prices soared: the apartments traded at HK $ 32,000 per square foot (or about EUR 33,000 per square meter) in 2013 ; the apartments in the area's Cullinan complex were among the most expensive in the world. The market analysts talked about a dangerous real estate bubble in Hong Kong.
Building complexes
The Union Square Phase 5 project has been withdrawn. A tower with 574 meters was planned. That was not in accordance with the new restrictions of the planning authority, according to which high-rise buildings in the area of Victoria Harbor were not allowed to tower over the surrounding mountains; even Victoria Peak is only 552 m. The follow-up project Union Square Phase 7 (International Commerce Center, 484 m) fulfills these conditions.
The waterfront
The Waterfront (Chinese: 漾 日 居) is a residential building complex in the Union Square area. Basic data:
| • Height | 142 m |
| • Number of floors | 46 |
| • Construction time | 1998-2000 |
| • Number of buildings | 6th |
| • Surface | approx. 147,500 m² |
| • spaces | approx. 1,280 |
| • Architect / s | Simon Kwan & Associates |
Waterfront is located on the west side of the Union Square area. The basic data above are identical for all six buildings.
The Sorrento
The Sorrento (Chinese: 擎天 半島) is a residential complex in the area of Union Square. Basic data:
| • Height | 256 m (Sorrento 1), 236 m (Sorrento 2), 218 m (Sorrento 3), 212 m (Sorrento 4), 206 m (Sorrento 5) |
| • Number of floors | 75, 66, 64, 62, 60 |
| • Construction time | until 2003 |
| • Number of buildings | 5 |
| • Surface | approx. 210,300 m² |
| • spaces | 2.120 |
| • Architect / s | Wong & Ouyang |
Sorrento is located on the north side of the Union Square area.
The harborside
The Harborside (Chinese: 君臨 天下) is a residential building in the area of Union Square. Basic data:
| • Height | 251 m |
| • Number of floors | 74 |
| • Construction time | 2000-2003 |
| • Number of buildings | (3 towers connected to each other below, in the middle and above) |
| • Surface | approx. 128,800 m² |
| • spaces | approx. 1,120 |
| • Architect / s | P&T Group |
Harborside is located on the south side of the Union Square area.
The Arch
The Arch (Chinese: 凱旋 門) is a residential building in the Union Square area. Basic data:
| • Height | 231 m |
| • Number of floors | 65 |
| • Construction time | 2001-2005 |
| • Number of buildings | 1 |
| • Surface | approx. 100,000 |
| • spaces | approx. 1,150 |
| • Architect / s | P&T Group, AGC Design |
Arch is located to the southwest of the Union Square area.
The Cullinan
The Cullinan (Chinese: 天 璽) is a building complex with mixed use (residential units, hotel, offices) in the area of Union Square. Basic data:
| • Height | 270 m |
| • Number of floors | 68 |
| • Construction time | 2002-2009 |
| • Number of buildings | 2 Twintower, sometimes also called Cullinan I and Cullinan II (or Cullinan North Tower and Cullinan South Tower) |
| • Surface | approx. 93,700 + approx. 53,200 hotels |
| • spaces | approx. 820 + approx. 660 hotel |
| • Architect / s | Wong & Ouyang |
Cullinan is located on the east side of the Union Square area. The basic data above are identical for both twin towers.
After the Union Square Phase 5 project was withdrawn, those responsible decided to increase the number of floors of the two Cullinan towers from 45 to 68. The W Hotel with 660 rooms is located on the first 25 floors of the sub-complex Cullinan II (south tower) .
International Commerce Center
The International Commerce Center (Chinese 環球 貿易 廣場), also abbreviated as ICC, is a building complex with mixed use in the area of Union Square. Basic data:
| • Height | 484 m |
| • Number of floors | 108 (sometimes indicated as 118) |
| • Construction time | 2002-2010 |
| • Number of buildings | 1 |
| • Surface | approx. 231,700 (offices) + approx. 41,700 (hotel) |
| • spaces | 312 (hotel) |
| • Architect / s | Wong & Ouyang, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates |
The International Commerce Center is located in the southeast of the Union Square area.
The Ritz Carton Hotel with 312 rooms is located on the upper floors 102 to 118, while the Sky100 Hong Kong Observation Deck is located on the 100th floor (393 meters above sea level) .
Other facilities
There is also a large shopping mile, The Elements, on Union Square . It extends between the house complexes on three floors with numerous shops, restaurants, etc. The economically usable gross floor area (GFA; commercial GFA ) is around 87,000 m². An artificial ground level was built on the roof of the shopping center, on which there is a park and entrances to the individual houses.
Remarks
- ↑ The apparent discrepancies in the information on the proportion of hotels and apartments result from the fact that some sources differentiate between "hotel rooms" and so-called "serviced apartments", while others subsume everything under hotel rooms.
- ↑ For the figures (including the basic data below), the material from the following sources was used: Emporis , SkyscraperPage and The Skyscraper Center (CTBHU) as well as the underground operator MTR ; minor deviations were not taken into account here.
- ↑ There are some explanations for this that are not 100% substantiated: the entrance hall should be as high as ten stories, which is included in the count; Others lead the discrepancy back to the so-called tetraphobia widespread in Hong Kong , which in many buildings omits the floors where the number “4” is included.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kowloon Station Development , short info from the Farrells architecture office, online at: farrells.com / ...
- ↑ a b c d e Union Square , portal and database Emporis, online at: emporis.com /.../ 100560 / ...
- ↑ Portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/...82783722
- ↑ a b Union Square Complex , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), online at: skyscrapercenter.com/.../458
- ↑ a b Developments at Union Square , online edition of the Building.com portal from January 18, 2010, online at: building.com.hk / ...
- ↑ a b c d The Vertical City, Part III: The West Kowloon Walled City , Portal ZolimaCityMag, online at: zolimacitymag.com / ...
- ↑ a b International Commerce Center , portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/...12
- ↑ West Kowloon Reclamation , Info from the Civil Engineering and Development Department CEDD, online at: .cedd.gov.hk / ...
- ↑ Charlie QL Xue, Hailin Zhai, Joshua Roberts: An urban island floating on the MTR station: A case study of the West Kowloon development in Hong Kong , in: Urban Design International, No. 4 / August 2010, page 191ff., Free accessible online at: researchgate.net / ...
- ↑ Raymond Wang: Speculators may blow new bubble , in: The Standard (Hong Kong), May 20, 2005, online (archived) at: web.archive.org/.../www.thestandard.com.hk/ .. .
- ↑ Christopher Shay: Hong Kong: The World's Most Expensive Real Estate? , in: Time , September 24, 2009, online at: content.time.com / ...
- ↑ 5,000 jostle for cut-price luxury flats at The Cullinan in West Kowloon , in: South China Morning Post , October 13, 2013, online at: scmp.com / ...
- ↑ Kowloon Station Phase 7 , portal and database Emporis, online at: emporis.com /.../ 170380 / ...
- ↑ 地 方 - 香 港 山 脈 (Local - Hong Kong Mountains) , online at: hk-place.com / ...
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Kowloon Station , brief information from the underground operator MTR, online at: mtr.com.hk / ...
- ↑ The Waterfront , portal and database Emporis (cf. online at emporis.de/ ), in detail: The Waterfront 1 at: emporis.com /.../ 120359 / ... , The Waterfront 2 at: emporis.com/ ... / 120360 / ... , The Waterfront 3 on: emporis.com /.../ 120362 / ... , The Waterfront 5 on: emporis.com /.../ 120361 / ... , The Waterfront 6 on: emporis.com /.../ 120358 / ... , The Waterfront 7 on: emporis.com /.../ 120363 / ...
- ↑ The Waterfront , portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/...7588
- ↑ The Waterfront , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), in detail: Waterfront 1 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../10461 , Waterfront 2 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../10462 , Waterfront 3 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../10463 , Waterfront 5 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../10464 , Waterfront 6 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../10465 , Waterfront 7 on: skyscrapercenter.com/. ../10466
- ↑ Sorrento , Emporis portal and database (cf. online at emporis.de/ ), in detail: Sorrento 1 on: emporis.com /.../ 101552 / ... , Sorrento 2 on: emporis.com / ... / 101557 / ... , Sorrento 3 on: emporis.com /.../ 101553 / ... , Sorrento 5 on: emporis.com /.../ 101560 / ... , Sorrento 6 on: emporis.com /.../ 101556 / ...
- ↑ The Sorrento , portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/...6683
- ↑ The Sorrento , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), in detail: Sorrento 1 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../800 , Sorrento 2 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../1041 , Sorrento 3 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../1284 , Sorrento 5 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../1406 , Sorrento 6 on: skyscrapercenter.com/.../1560
- ↑ The Harborside , portal and database Emporis, online at: emporis.com /.../ 100659 / ...
- ↑ The HarbourSide , portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/7287
- ↑ The HarbourSide , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), online at: skyscrapercenter.com/.../838
- ↑ The Arch , portal and database Emporis, online at: emporis.com /.../ 101563 / ...
- ^ The Arch , portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/...7288
- ^ The Arch , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), online at: skyscrapercenter.com/.../1086
- ↑ a b The Cullinan , portal and database Emporis, online at: emporis.com /.../ 161868 / ... Cullinan I and emporis.com /.../ 161869 / ... Cullinan II
- ↑ The Cullinan , portal and database SkyscraperPage, online at: skyscraperpage.com/...7313
- ↑ The Cullinan , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), online at: skyscrapercenter.com/.../675 Cullinan I and skyscrapercenter.com/.../676 Cullinan II
- ↑ International Commerce Center , portal and database Emporis, online at: emporis.com /.../ 101555 / ...
- ↑ International Commerce Center , portal and database of The Skyscraper Center, (project by CTBUH ), online at: skyscrapercenter.com/.../137
- ↑ sky100 Hong Kong Observation Deck , Hong Kong Extras portal, online at: hongkongextras.com / ...
Web links
Coordinates: 22 ° 18 ′ 19 ″ N , 114 ° 9 ′ 42 ″ E