Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the international architecture firm headquartered in New York, announced it has completed the conceptual design for Lotte Super Tower 123 in Seoul, South Korea. The 555-meter (1,821 feet), 123-story tower, when completed in 2014, will be the tallest building in Asia and the world’s second tallest after the Burj Dubai.
Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) was selected earlier this year after an international design competition by owner/developer Lotte Group, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates. This long anticipated project has now earned all major zoning approvals, and excavation is nearly complete. The building will serve as Lotte’s new corporate headquarters and will be built by Lotte Construction, a subsidiary of the group. Architect’s description after the break.
The architectural team is led by KPF design principal James von Klemperer. The concept melds a modern aesthetic with forms inspired by the historic Korean arts of ceramics, porcelain, and calligraphy. “The tower’s uninterrupted curvature and gentle tapered form is reflective of Korean artistry. The seam that runs from top to bottom of the structure gestures toward the old center of city,” said von Klemperer. “Elegance of form was one of our prime objectives, following Lotte’s desire to bestow a beautiful monument to the capital city skyline,” he added. The overall form of the tower will stand out from the city’s rugged mountainous topography as a slender tapered cone. Exterior materials will be light-toned glass accented by a filigree of metal.
A. Eugene Kohn, Chairman of KPF, said, “The Lotte Super Tower 123 will be Seoul’s new landmark building and a fitting representation of the eminent role of Lotte Group and its Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho in Korea.” Chairman Shin, now aged 87, is the founder of the company, known as a legend in the Korean business world for his vision and determination.
Lotte Super Tower 123 will sit astride a key transportation hub in the southern Jamsil section of the city near the Han River. Unlike other “super talls,” the Tower will be truly mixed-use, approaching the ideal of a vertical city. Uses include public transport connectors, retail, residential, offices, hotel, observation deck, and public space. The building’s first six floors will contain retail; offices will occupy floors 7 thru 60; 25 floors of residential will rise from floors 61- 85; and a 7-star luxury hotel will comprise floors 86-119. The dramatic culmination of the building will be a civic realm within its top four stories earmarked for extensive public use and entertainment facilities including an observation deck.
The design team is aiming to achieve a silver LEED accreditation, a measure of the owner’s commitment to environmental responsibility.
Currently, four super tower projects, each one more than 100 stories, are being planned in the Seoul area, with the Lotte project being the most advanced in its schedule. Korean contractors have been responsible for building two of the world’s tallest buildings, in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, and are now poised to bring this experience to their own country.
