China Central Television Headquarters

Not to be confused with Beijing TV Centre.

China Central Television Headquarters
中央电视台总部大楼
Alternative names	China Central TV Headquarters Central Chinese Television Tower
General information
Location	East Third Ring Road Guanghua Road Beijing, China
Coordinates	39°54′48″N 116°27′29″E / 39.91347°N 116.45805°E / 39.91347; 116.45805Coordinates: 39°54′48″N 116°27′29″E / 39.91347°N 116.45805°E / 39.91347; 116.45805
Construction started	1 June 2004
Technical details
Floor count	44
Floor area	389,079 m2 (4,188,010 sq ft)
Elevator count	75
Design and construction
Owner	China Central Television
Management	China Central Television
Main contractor	China State Construction and Engineering Corporation
Architect	Office for Metropolitan Architecture East China Architectural Design & Research Institute
Developer	China Central Television
Structural engineer	Ove Arup & Partners
References
[1][2][3]

The CCTV Headquarters is a 234 m (768 ft), 44-storey skyscraper in the Beijing Central Business District (CBD) and serves as headquarters for China Central Television (CCTV). Groundbreaking took place on 1 June 2004 and the building's facade was completed in 1 January 2008. Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren of OMA were the architects in charge for the building, while Arup provided the complex engineering design.

Background

The main building is not a traditional tower, but a loop of six horizontal and vertical sections covering 473,000 m (1,552,000 ft) of floor space, creating an irregular grid on the building's facade with an open center. The construction of the building is considered to be a structural challenge, especially because it is in a seismic zone. Because of its radical shape, it's said that a taxi driver first came up with its nickname dà kùchǎ (大裤衩), roughly translated as, "big boxer shorts".^[4][5]

The building was built in three buildings that were joined to become one and a half buildings 30 May 2007. In order not to lock in structural differentials this connection was scheduled in the early morning when the steel in the two towers cooled to the same temperature.^[6] The CCTV building was part of a media park intended to form a landscape of public entertainment, outdoor filming areas, and production studios as an extension of the central green axis of the CBD.^[7]

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture won the contract from the Beijing International Tendering Co. to construct the CCTV Headquarters and the Television Cultural Center by its side on 1 January 2002. It is among the first of 300 new towers in the new Beijing CBD. Administration, news, broadcasting, and program production offices and studios are all contained inside.

CCTV Headquarters was officially opened by the Chairman on 1 January 2008. Among the distinguished guests at the opening were Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Wen Jiabao and Guo Jinlong.

2009 Fire

An adjacent building in the complex, the Television Cultural Center, caught on fire, ignited by fireworks on Lantern Festival day, 9 February 2009, before the building's scheduled completion in May 2009. It was to have the Beijing Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a visitor's center, a large public theatre, two recording studios with three audio control rooms, a digital cinema and two screening rooms. The 520 ft. Mandarin Oriental Hotel was badly damaged and one fire fighter was killed.^[8][9] On October 25, 2009, scaffolds were set up in the front gate of TVCC which indicated the renovation of the building had begun.

As of 9 February 2010, the main CCTV tower was still unoccupied. The building appeared vacant at night for much of the year with lights appearing only in the upper floors. In September and October on two notable occasions the entire tower complex was alight at least from one of the towers.^[10] The Television Cultural Center will be repaired

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  Beijing's CBD with the CCTV tower and China World Trade Center Tower 3 nearing completion (July 2008)

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  CCTV headquarters in China, Beijing district nearing completion (April 2008)

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  CCTV Headquarters complete (2009)

References

1. ^ China Central Television Headquarters at Emporis
2. ^ China Central Television Headquarters at SkyscraperPage
3. ^ China Central Television Headquarters at Structurae
4. ^ http://www.wowa.cn/a_ArticleShow.aspx?view_id=59649
5. ^ Paul Goldberger (30 June 2008). "Forbidden Cities: Beijing’s great new architecture is a mixed blessing for the city". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/skyline/2008/06/30/080630crsk_skyline_goldberger. Retrieved 18 October 2010. 
6. ^ Lecture by Ole Scheeren from the OMA, Design Academy Eindhoven, 17/10/07
7. ^ "China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters". Arup. http://www.arup.com/Projects/China_Central_Television_Headquarters.aspx. Retrieved 18 October 2010. 
8. ^ Andrew Jacobs (10 February 2009). "Fire Ravages Renowned Building in Beijing". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/world/asia/10beijing.html. Retrieved 18 October 2010. 
9. ^ "Who set fire to the CCTV tower?". http://www.radio86.co.uk/china-insight/from-chinese-media/headlines-in-china/13729/who-set-fire-to-the-cctv-tower. Retrieved 18 October 2010. 
10. ^ Sky Canaves (9 February 2009). "China Prepares to Salvage CCTV Tower". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615904575053140281687542.html. Retrieved 18 October 2010. 

External links

• CCTV Project Site
• Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) Project Site
• China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters Building & Cultural Centre, Beijing page for the engineering firm ARUP
• Consulting services performed by RWDI