Central Plaza facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Central Plaza中環廣場 |
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| General information | |
| Location | Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Completed | 1992 |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 374 m (1227 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 78 |
Central Plaza is a very tall building, called a skyscraper, located in Hong Kong. It has 78 floors and stands about 374 m (1,227 ft) (1,227 feet) high. This amazing building was finished in August 1992. You can find it at 18 Harbour Road, in an area called Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island.
For a few years, from 1992 to 1996, Central Plaza was the tallest building in all of Asia! It was also the tallest building in Hong Kong for a while, taking that title from the Bank of China Tower. Later, other buildings like the 2 International Finance Centre and the ICC became even taller. Today, Central Plaza is the third tallest building in Hong Kong.
Central Plaza was also special because it was the tallest building in the world made of reinforced concrete for some time. The building has a unique floor plan that looks like a triangle. At the very top, there's a cool neon clock made of four bars. This clock shows the time by changing colors every 15 minutes. It even blinks when a new quarter-hour starts!
There's a special tool called an anemometer at the very tip of the building's mast. This tool measures wind speed. The mast itself is 102 m (335 ft) tall. Central Plaza is also home to the world's highest church inside a skyscraper, called Sky City Church.
Building Design and Features
Central Plaza is made up of two main parts. There's the super-tall office tower, which is about 368-metre-high (1,207 ft). Then there's a smaller, 30.5-metre-high (100 ft) block at the bottom, called a podium. This podium is connected to the tower.
The tower itself has three main sections:
- Tower Base: This is the bottom part, about 30.5-metre-high (100 ft). It holds the main entrance and areas where people can move around.
- Tower Body: This is the biggest part, about 235.4-metre-tall (772 ft). It has 57 floors of offices, a special "sky lobby," and five floors for building machinery.
- Tower Top: This section has six floors for more machinery and a very tall mast, about 102-metre-tall (335 ft).
The area around the building on the ground floor is a large public garden. It's about 8,400 m2 (90,000 sq ft) in size and has fountains, trees, and stone paths. This garden is open to everyone and doesn't have any shops. The first floor of the podium is also a public walkway. It connects to three pedestrian bridges that link to the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and the China Resource Building. By making these areas public, the building was allowed to be even bigger!
Even though the tower looks triangular, its three corners are actually cut off. This clever design helps create better office spaces inside the building.
Related pages
Images for kids
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The Sky Lobby, a special area high up in the building.
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The lounge area of Sky City Church, located near the top of Central Plaza.
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Central Plaza, seen on April 20, 2003.
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Central Plaza and the Great Eagle Centre, seen on May 19, 2007.
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A view showing the triangular shaped floor plan of Central Plaza, April 20, 2003.
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A vertical shot of Central Plaza, taken on April 20, 2003.
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A view of the Wanchai waterfront with the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in front and Central Plaza behind it, August 2005.
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A view of the Wanchai waterfront as seen from Central Pier 9, November 2007.
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Flags at half mast, at the foot of Central Plaza.
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An overview of Wan Chai, showing Central Plaza in 2008.
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The Convention & Exhibition Centre and Central Plaza at night.
