Ping An Finance Centre Named Fourth Tallest Tower Worldwide

At 599 meters high, the KPF - Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates-designed Ping An Finance Centre  is now the tallest building in Shenzhen, the second tallest in China, and the fourth tallest in the world.



The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced this designation in concurrence with the tower’s official completion and opening. Ping An joins the Lotte World Tower (5th), CTF Finance Centre (6th), Shanghai World Financial Center (8th), and International Commerce Centre (9th) as seminal KPF designs on the top ten list.

KPF worked with client Ping An Insurance Company to design a supertall headquarters that would become the physical and iconic center of Shenzhen’s burgeoning central business district, the Futian District. It connects to both neighboring commercial and residential properties and the Line 1 Gou Wu Gong Yuan metro station. Comprising 100 office floors above a retail and conference podium, the tower will accommodate 15,500 workers and 9,000 daily passengers to an observation deck.

With Hong Kong’s International Commerce Centre to the north and Guangzhou’s CTF Finance Centre to the south, the Ping An Finance Centre completes a trio of KPF-designed vertical centers linked by high-speed rail, representing a sustainable model for urban development within an area of rapid economic growth.

The structure’s stone supports, rendered as chevron-shaped columns, converge at the tower’s height and mediate the tension of the earth to a single point in the sky. Sheathed in glass and stone, the podium is defined by a central atrium that acts as a public vestibule and sun-lit space for meeting, shopping, and dining. Designed for local weather resistance, the tower’s tapered façade reduces wind loads by forty percent and its stainless steel piers form a protective net against lightning strikes. Images are available here.

CTBUH is the world’s leading resource for professionals focused on the inception, design, construction, and operation of tall buildings and future cities. The organization has developed international standards for measuring tall building height and is recognized as the arbiter for bestowing such designations as “The World’s Tallest Building.”

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates is one of the world’s pre-eminent design firms, providing architecture, interior, programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. With completed projects in more than 35 countries and six global offices, the firm’s 550+ staff members come from 52 different countries, speak over 30 languages, and include over 80 LEED accredited professionals.

The firm’s additional supertall work includes CITIC Tower in Beijing; China Resources Headquarters and One Shenzhen Bay in Shenzhen; Hudson Yards and One Vanderbilt in New York; and One Bayfront Plaza in Miami.