Hong Kong International Finance Centre

Standing beside the Star Ferry terminal is the soaring 88-storey Hong Kong International Finance Centre (known as ‘Two IFC’ - One IFC building is older and much smaller) building is for now Hong Kong’s tallest skyscraper at 420m (1,378 feet) and the sixth tallest in the world.

Within the myriad of skyscrapers and soaring buildings distributed on the islands, the International Finance Centre is the tallest building in Hong Kong. The International Finance Centre, which is branded as "IFC", is an integrated commercial development on the famous waterfront area of Hong Kong's Central District.

Topped by a sculptural ‘crown’ reaching inward and outward, the International Finance Centre tapers upward where floor areas become smaller towards the top.

IFC basically consists of two skyscrapers. Tower One consists of the IFC mall and the forty-storey Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. The 88 storey Tower Two Hong Kong International Finance Centre is the tallest building in Hong Kong, usurping the place that was once occupied by the infamous Central Plaza.

The complex was developed by a consortium lead by Sun Hung Kai Properties & MTR Corporation. In addition, the Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it, providing more convenient transportation especially for traveling businessmen.

• The Two ifc buildings was featured in the Hollywood movie Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, in which Lara Croft and Terry Sheridan leap off it. The building was also used for filming in the 2008 Batman film, The Dark Knight, in a scene where Batman jumps off the building.
• The 55th-floor Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre is open to the public.
• The International Finance Centre has a cinema, upscale shopping mall and the super-trendy new ISOLA bar and grill on the third floor.
• The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.
• The ifc mall is located directly above the Hong Kong MTR Station and provides an indoor connection for the two office buildings (One IFC and Two IFC) and the Four Seasons Hotel. The ifc mall houses over 200 different brands and features a number of top fashion, health & skin care, jewellery and accessory shops, restaurants, a number of cafés (such as Starbucks, Pacific Coffee Company, MIX) and a cinema. It also features Hong Kong's third c!ty'super store, a high-end supermarket.
• The Four Seasons Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel that was completed and opened in October in 2005. The 206 m (674 ft), 60-storey oceanfront hotel is the only Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. The hotel has 399 guest suites, and 513 service apartments. Amenities include what is claimed to be a world-class French restaurant Caprice and spa. It is the largest Four Seasons Hotel.
• 2 IFC cuts the ridge-line of Victoria Peak when seen across harbour - The building not only failed to comply with the original design plan, it also breached Metroplan guidelines prohibiting new developments from cutting the ridge-line of Victoria Peak when seen from various key points.
• The complex was built entirely on reclaimed land, as part of a $40 billion complex for the Central station of the Airport Express line, and was developed by Central Waterfront Property, a joint venture between Henderson Land Development and Sun Hung Kai Properties.
• Both 1IFC and 2IFC were designed by César Pelli, architect of the Petronas Towers. 1IFC resembles the Goldman Sachs Tower in Jersey City, a tower also designed by Pelli.
• The construction costs of Hong Kong International Finance Centre was reputed to have been HK$ 19.5 billion.
• More than 3,500 workers from various places around the world worked at the construction site during the peak construction period.

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