TUNTEX
SKY TOWER


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TUNTEX SKY TOWER
348 metres / 1,140 feet,
85 stories
Completed: 1997
Tallest building of Taiwan 1997 – 2003

Some Tuntex SkyTower facts & figures:

- Designed by C.Y. Lee and Partners,
with Hellmuth, Obata, Kassabaum;
- the tower is situated in the Ling Ya district of Kaoshiung,
a city that can be found in the southwest of Taiwan
and is the country's 2nd largest city;
- the building is also known as Kaoshiung 85 Tower, Kaoshiung SkyTower,
T&C Tower, the Tuntex & Chien-Tai Tower, and 85 Sky Tower.
- the height of the building is without the spire on top;
this is because the antenna was not a part of
the architectural design of the building.
For many years with spire the height was 378m/1,240f,
but on top of the old spire a new part was added a couple of years ago,
which has extended the height by some 7 or 8 metres;
including the spire the building is now approximately 385m/1,263 tall;
- the building's shape is based on the Chinese character of 高 (Kao),
which is the first word in the city's name, and which means TALL;
- the building is owned by the Tuntex Group and is mainly offices,
but also includes residential space, a department store (Chien-Tai) and the
Splendor Kaohsiung hotel, which occupies the 37th to 70th floors.
Floors 36, 57, 71, and 78-85 are mechanical floors;
the tower has five basement floors, with a parking garage for 1,151 cars;
- the tower has an observation deck as well (74th floor; 290m/951f).
The observation deck gives nearly 360 degrees views
over the city and harbor of Kaoshiung;
- the observation deck can be reached by one of the fastest high speed elevators
in the world, capable of speeds of 10 meters per second (600 metres per minute;
36 kilometers per hour). The elevator brings the visitors to the 75th floor,
where they have to go down some stairs to the 74th floor;
- construction started in 1994; the building was completed in 1997;
- the building was built on a site area of 12,000 square metres (129,120 sq. f);
- the area of above ground building is 306,350 square metres (3,296,326 sq.f);
- opinions about the design of this skyscraper differ;
some call it a beauty, while others find it really ugly.
Whatever one's opinion about the design is, because of its size
(when completed in 1997 the building was the 9th tallest building in the world)
it can be seen from miles around and has a huge impact on the skyline of Kaohsiung.


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