HSBC Building, Hong Kong
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Architect
 Foster + Partners
Structural Engineers: Ove Arup & Partners
Date Built
 Completed 1986
Location
 1 Queen's Road Central
Description
Writing in the Guardian in April of 1986 Martin Pawley said of this building that, “Legend has it that Foster received only one directive from the bank director Roy Munden when he won the architectural competition for the job in 1979 - 'build me the best bank in the world'. When the architect got down to business the only other directive that emerged was 'keep it simple'.”  During a lecture at Glasgow Royal Conference Hall in May of 1997, Norman Foster is quoted as saying that, “Many buildings are statements of confidence in the future, so they are inextricably linked to the political processes which generate their need, and some of that is really highly symbolic. The Bank was certainly no exception. It was a very considered move, as a vehicle to enhance the prosperity of that particular bank, which has since moved dramatically into the world league. But it was also a symbol of confidence in the future of the colony.”



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The HSBC Building is composed of three individual towers of varying heights ranging from twenty-nine storeys to thirty-six storeys and the tallest being forty-four storeys.













Foster’s website explains that, “... The mast structure allowed another radical move, pushing the service cores to the perimeter to create deep-plan floors around a ten-storey atrium. A mirrored 'sunscoop' reflects sunlight down through the atrium to the floor of a public plaza below - a sheltered space, which at weekends has become a lively picnic spot. From the plaza, escalators rise up through the glass underbelly to the banking hall, which was conceived as a 'shop window for banking'.”



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"The 'bridges' that span between the masts define double-height reception areas that break down the scale of the building both visually and socially. A unique system of movement through the building combines high-speed lifts to the reception spaces with escalators beyond, reflecting village-like clusters of office floors."



(The image above is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.  It is attributed to Deror_avi.  For details of the license click on the image)
(The image above is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.  It is attributed to Deror_avi.  For details of the license click on the image)

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