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Peak Tower

Shopping complex and funicular station in Hong Kong

Summary

Shopping complex and funicular station in Hong Kong

Field	Value
name	The Peak Tower
native_name	凌霄閣
native_name_lang	zh-hant
image	The Peak Tower 201108.jpg
image_caption	Peak Tower viewed from Lugard Road
status	Complete
building_type	Shopping complex, funicular station
architectural_style	Postmodern
location	128 Peak Road, Victoria Gap, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
altitude	396 m
start_date
opened_date
renovation_date
cost
ren_cost
floor_count	8
floor_area	10400 m2
architect	TFP Farrells
developer	Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels
engineer	Arup
main_contractor	Chun Wo
ren_architect	Ronald Lu and Partners
ren_engineer	Arup
ren_contractor	Hip Hing Construction
website
references

The Peak Tower is a shopping complex located at Victoria Gap, near the summit of Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It also houses the upper terminal of the Peak Tram, a funicular railway. Both the Peak Tower and the Peak Tram are owned by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group, the owner of Hong Kong's Peninsula Hotel and other properties. The tower and tram are jointly promoted by the collective branding known as The Peak.

The Peak Tower is located at an elevation of 396 m (1,299 ft), 156 m (512 ft) below the summit of Victoria Peak. Because the architects sought a design which would be prominent on the skyline but would not interrupt the natural line of the hills, they chose a site in a dip along the line of the hills, and restricted the tower's height to 428 m above sea level.

History

The Peak Tram opened in 1888. A wooden structure was built as its first upper terminus station.

The current Peak Tower is the second on the site.

South face of the building prior to the 2006 alteration, showing the open space beneath the "bowl" which was later glassed in.

First design

The first peak Tower was designed by Hong Kong architect Chung Wah Nan. Construction started in 1971, and it was opened to the public on 29 August 1972.

The Tower Restaurant, a western restaurant, opened in the same year. It was situated on the top deck while the Peak Coffee Shop was located on the floor below. Both the upper floors were supported by two columns allowing a clear space between the upper and lower parts of the tower. This design feature has been retained in the redeveloped tower, but with quite a different shape to the upper section. On the ground floor of the building, there was a Chinese restaurant. It was open until 1981.

The first tower was demolished in 1993 and a groundbreaking ceremony on the new tower was held later the same year.

Second design

The current Peak Tower was the work of the British architect Terry Farrell, and was completed in 1997. It has seven floors with a total area of 10,400 m² (112,000 ft²) with a wok shape at the top. A viewing platform located on the third floor overlooks Victoria Harbour.

The building was altered from 2005–2006 at a cost of $100 million. The lower portion was glassed in to increase retail space, and the escalators were relocated. The Peak Tower now has eight floors with the viewing terrace relocated to the top of the building (at the top of the 'wok' shape) that overlooks both Victoria Harbour and Aberdeen (SW of the Hong Kong Island); however, severe air pollution often hinders the outlook from this venue.

Attractions

Apart from the Peak Tram terminal, viewing terrace, and gift shops, the tower also included several attractions: Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium, Hong Kong's Historical Adventure (a journey through scenes of the Hong Kong's early history, and the first computer-operated entertainment ride in Hong Kong) and the Peak Explorer Motion Simulator.

In 2000, after the closure of Hong Kong's Historical Adventure, Madame Tussauds Hong Kong moved in to occupy the former vacated premises to become the first Madame Tussauds permanent outlet in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Peak Tower is located close to a second leisure and shopping centre, the Peak Galleria, built atop the bus station used by the public buses and green minibuses that serve the Peak.

References

"Peak Tower". Farrells.
"15 Most Outstanding projects in Hong Kong". City University of Hong Kong.
"Peak Tower Revitalisation, Hong Kong". Ronald Lu and Partners.
"The Peak Tower Revitalisation". Hong Kong Construction Association.
"The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels - Peak Tower". The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited.
"The Peak". The Peak.
"Peak Tower History". The Peak.
(24 July 1997). "Grand old lady to turn 110". The Standard.
"Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection".
(1 July 1993). "Wreckers move in on Peak Tower". South China Morning Post.
(11 November 1993). "Work starts on new Peak Tower". South China Morning Post.
(5 July 2006). "Wrapping to come off Peak Tower after $100m renovation". South China Morning Post.
The Peak Tower Limited, Peak Tramways Company Limited. "The Peak Tower History".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

landmarks-in-hong-kong shopping-centres-on-hong-kong-island terry-farrell-buildings tourist-attractions-in-hong-kong victoria-peak

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