10 Facts about the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters

The practice’s first project outside the UK, the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters virtually reinvented the office tower when it was constructed in 1986. The brief was to create ‘the best bank building in the world.’ What followed was a process of questioning and challenging conventions and an exploration of how the spirit of banking in Hong Kong could be represented in built form.

Learn more about this iconic landmark, from the prefabricated components that enabled rapid construction to how the design is aligned with traditional Chinese design principles. 

1. The building is composed of three stepped towers, respectively 29, 36, and 44 storeys-high, creating varied floor sizes and allowing for garden terraces throughout. 

2. The mast structure allowed for the service cores to be located at the perimeter to create deep-plan floors around the ten-storey atrium - a radical move for office buildings at the time. 

3. The Hong Kong Buildings Department granted an increase of the building’s footprint by 17%, as a concession for opening the plaza at the building’s base to the public, which has now become a lively picnic spot on weekends. 

4. Natural sunlight is directed through the atrium to the floor of the plaza below via a 32-tonne exterior ‘sunscoop’ made up of 480 mirrors.

5. Seawater from the nearby Victoria Harbour is used as a coolant for the air conditioning system, an innovative example of how the design integrates the natural environment with cutting-edge technology. 

6. The building’s design prioritises escalators over lifts, with 60 escalators connecting clusters of office floors in a village-like arrangement, while high-speed lifts serve only the main reception areas.

7. Due to the need to construct over one million square feet within a tight timeframe and the lack of a developed construction industry, prefabricated components were remotely assembled and delivered from three different continents. These complex logistics were unique at the time but are now more commonly used. 

8. Ensuring flexibility was a priority throughout the design process, enabling the bank to rapidly and seamlessly reconfigure office layouts in the years to come, including the unexpected addition of a large dealers’ room on one floor.

9. The building’s steel suspended design eliminates the need for internal support and incorporates 30,000 tonnes of steel and 4,500 tonnes of aluminium.

10. Rooted in feng shui philosophy, the planning of the building was endorsed by a geomancer to integrate features like the positioning of the ground level escalators and water views to bring prosperity to those working there.