Shanghai Tower topped off with final beam

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Shanghai Tower topped off with final beam

By Zha Minjie (Shanghai Daily) 11:20, August 04, 2013

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Photo taken on Aug. 3, 2013 shows the Shanghai Tower (L) under construction in Shanghai, east China. A topping-out ceremony was held Saturday for the Shanghai Tower, China's tallest building, which remains under construction until its scheduled completion in 2015. The 125-story building, now 580 meters high, is scheduled to reach a final height of 632 meters upon completion in 2015. (Xinhua/Pei Xin)

A 6.8-meter beam carefully hoisted into position at 9:30am yesterday topped off the main structure of the Shanghai Tower.

The skyscraper now stands at 580 meters tall, and with the addition of service layers and an external “crowning” structure will reach 632m next year.

The tower, in the Lujiazui financial hub, is the world’s second-tallest building — surpassed only by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which soars 829.8m.

No more high-rises on this scale are planned in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Tower will complete the long-planned trio of super-high buildings in Lujiazui.

Along with the 492-meter Shanghai World Financial Center and the 420-meter Jin Mao Tower, it is intended to cement Lujiazui’s reputation as a center for world-class financial companies and corporate headquarters.

However, the project manager looked back Shanghai’s past to describe the building.

“I’d rather call the Shanghai Tower a vertical Bund, rather than a vertical Wall Street,” said Gu Jianping, general manager with owner Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co.

Across the Huangpu River, the classic architecture of the Bund embodies the commercial might of Shanghai in the early 1900s.

Shanghai’s financial heart is now in Lujiazui and the glass-and-steel Shanghai Tower will provide a place of work and leisure for 40,000 people each day.

The 15 billion yuan (US$2.45 billion) structure, with half its exterior in place, is already the subject of many snapshots from passers-by as it looms over the striking Lujiazui skyline.

“It’s a testimony of construction abilities and city ambition,” said Zhen Shiling, an architecture expert and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Work began in 2008 and the 125-floor building — including four underground stories — is scheduled to open by 2015. It will house offices, retail space, a high-end hotel and cultural facilities.

The tower will be divided into nine sections with different functions, separated by gardens or viewing platforms.

Its architects say it will be one of China’s greenest skyscrapers.

Its spiral shape is designed to minimize wind resistance and energy consumption, while wind turbines are planned for the top.

In the future, the Shanghai Tower, Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center will be linked by underground passages leading to Metro stations.