Bitexco Financial Tower

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Bitexco Financial Tower
Bitexco Financial Tower 20022012 cropped.JPG
Alternative names Tháp Tài Chính, Tháp Bitexco, Tháp Financial Tower
Record height
Tallest in Vietnam from 2010 to 2011[I]
Preceded by Saigon Trade Center
Surpassed by Landmark 72
General information
Status Complete
Type Shopping mall
Office
Restaurant
Location District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Groundbreaking September 2005
Construction started 2007
Topped-out 2010
Opening 31 October 2010
Owner Bitexco Group
Management Turner International,
DLS
Height
Roof 262.5 meters (861 ft)
Top floor 258.5 meters (848 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 68 (and 3 underground)
Floor area 100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators 16
Design and construction
Architect Carlos Zapata Studio, Jean-Marie Duthilleul and Etienne Tricaud AREP[1]
Developer Bitexco Group
Engineer DSA Engineering (M&E)
Structural engineer Leslie E. Robertson Associates RLLP and VNCC
Main contractor Hyundai Engineering and Construction
References
[2]

Bitexco Financial Tower is a skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, owned by Bitexco Group, a Vietnamese company. With 68 floors above ground and three basements, the building has a height of 262.5 metres (861 ft), making it the tallest building in the city, the 3rd tallest in Vietnam, and the 124th tallest in the world. In 2017 this building will be surpassed by Landmark 81, and will be the 2nd tallest skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City.

The tower was made by the French company AREP and architects J.M. Duthilleul, E. Tricaud and Carlos Zapata. World-renowned Venezuelan architect Zapata, who was behind Bitexco Financial Tower, drew inspiration for this skyscraper's unique shape from Vietnam's national flower, the Lotus.[citation needed] The tower was the tallest building in Vietnam from 2010 to early 2011 when Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower topped out on 24 January 2011.

The tower was officially inaugurated on October 31, 2010.

History

Ground view of the tower.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held in September 2005. Two years later, in June 2007, construction of the tower started. The tower, however, topped out in mid-2010 and had its inauguration ceremony on 31 October 2010.

Facilities

The Bitexco Financial Tower is a mixed use project which includes office space and retail space. The tower has more than 39,000 square metres of office space, from 7th to 64 floors, and the six-storey retail podium Icon68 with around 10,000 square metres. Around 464 square metres of space is available for a casual dining restaurant on level 50 and around 568 square metres of space is used for a fine dining restaurant on level 51, as well as 300 square metres on level 52 for a VIP & Bar Lounge.

Vietnam’s first heli-pad is on the 52nd floor of Bitexco Financial Tower. The heli-pad extends 22 meters out from the main structure. It is strong enough to carry a helicopter under 3 tons of weight

Key design features

  • Grand Atrium Lobby
  • Wall & Façade system

The glass from Belgium was purchased and shipped to China for manufacturing. Once in China the low iron heat strengthened glass was cut into 6,000 panels. Each panel is double glazed with the outside layer being 8mm thick and internal air space of 12mm and an internal panel of 8mm. Finally the glass was shipped to Ho Chi Minh City and the 6,000 panels are being installed as the building grows higher. Each of the 6,000 sleek glass panels enveloping Bitexco Financial Tower is individually cut to unique specifications because each floor is different from the next.

  • Heli-pad

Located on the southern side of the Bitexco Financial Tower, the heli-pad cantilevers from the 52nd floor and resembles a blossoming lotus bud.[citation needed]

Constructed from more than 250 tons of structural steel and requiring 4,000 ultra-strong bolts to hold it together, the heli-pad took almost a year to plan, build and coordinate before it could be hoisted to its place on the 52nd floor. Its installation alone took about two months.

Most of the materials used to construct the heli-pad were purchased from Europe and South Korea and the manufacturing took place in Bu Gang, a city near Seoul. Once the fabrication of the heli-pad was completed, it was shipped to Vietnam.

To ensure proper assembly, the entire heli-pad was pre-assembled on the ground of a factory in Dong Nai province in Vietnam – a process that took about three weeks.

When the heli-pad was ready to be lifted into place, the roads surrounding the southern face of the Bitexco Financial Tower were closed for safety reasons and the heli-pad was transported into the centre of District 1. The massive yet delicate operation of lifting the heli-pad began. It was lifted in parts and attached to the 52nd storey of the Bitexco Financial Tower, 191 meters above Ho Chi Minh City.

  • Vertical Transportation

The Bitexco Financial Tower operates Otis double-decker lifts with specialised Compass System which is the most modern and advanced elevator system in Vietnam. There will be 3 separate elevator zones servicing the tower with 14 passenger and 2 service lifts:

  • Saigon Skydeck on 49th floor

The Saigon Skydeck soft opened for visitors on January 1, 2011, officially opening in July that same year, providing services and facilities for visitors. A ticket costs around $10. [3]

Floor plan

Floor Purpose
Basement 1–3 Parking
Floor 1–5 Retail
Floor 6 Cinema
Foodcourt
Floor 7–48 Office
Floor 49 Observation deck
Floor 50 Strata Restaurant and Café
Floor 51 Cirrus Restaurant
Floor 52 Helipad
Alto Bar
Floor 53–63 Office
Convention center (Floor 61–63)
Floor 64–68 Mechanical

Reception

On November 30, 2011, Bitexco Financial Tower has been received the “Excellence in structure engineering awards 2011” in the “International structure over $100 million” category. NCSEA.[4]

Office demand in Ho Chi Minh City

Due to the rapid two-digit growth of Saigon in particular and dynamic economic development of Vietnam in general, the construction of office buildings in Ho Chi Minh City has been rapid. Bitexco Financial Tower will help to ease the demand for office space in this city. The unit price of prime grade offices now in Saigon is $34 to $36 monthly,[citation needed] depending on the location. Foreign and domestic enterprises have invested significantly in the constructions of high-rise buildings in Vietnam. Before 1995, Saigon city centre featured French Colonial low-lying buildings. Since then, the city has seen a dramatic increase in high-rise buildings as the country has gained 8-8.5% annual GDP growth rate. Saigon, the country's economic hub, has achieved 12% GDP growth rate.[5]

Since opening, the Bitexco Tower is typical of the 20-30% occupied new buildings filling the Saigon landscape. There is little demand, except that forced on state owned enterprises and banks, who sign leases but never move in. Only tenants so far have been given 2 - 5 year rent reductions or free rent for 1 year.

Gallery

  • Thaptaichinh.jpg

    Bitexco Financial Tower's 3D model.

  • 23 November 2009

  • 2 February 2011

  • 14 August 2013

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.arep.fr/
  2. ↑ Bitexco Financial Tower at SkyscraperPage
  3. ↑ Saigon Skydeck. Saigon Skydeck. Retrieved on 2014-06-23.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2007/04/685072/

Shimmering Skyscrapers In Saigon By Night [1]

External links

Records
Preceded by Tallest Building in Vietnam
2010–2011
262.5 m		 Succeeded by
Keangnam Landmark 72
Preceded by Tallest Building in Ho Chi Minh City
2010–present
262.5 m		 Succeeded by
None
  1. ↑ http://saigon-online.net/?p=2576
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