Langham Place

Chinese|title=Langham Place|t=朗豪坊|i=lɔŋ₃₃ həʊ₁₁ fɔŋ₅₅|j=long³ hou⁴ fong¹|y=long hòuh fōng|p=Lǎngháo Fāng
w=Lang³-hao² Fang¹|gr=Laanghaur Fang Infobox Skyscraper
building_name = Langham Place


caption = The office and hotel, Langham Place, Hong Kong
location = Flagicon|Hong KongMong Kok, Hong Kong
year_highest =
year_end =
plural =
coordinates =
status = completed
groundbreaking =
constructed =
est-completion =
opening = 2004
demolished =
destroyed =
use =
antenna_spire =
roof = 255.1 m
top_floor =
floor_count = 59
elevator_count =
cost =
floor_area = 1.8 million sq. ft.
architect = Wong & Ouyang (HK)
The Jerde Partnership
engineer =
contractor =
developer = Great Eagle Group, Urban Renewal Authority
owner = Champion REIT

Langham Place is a business and commercial complex which opened in the fourth quarter of 2004 in Hong Kong, comprised of a shopping mall, hotel and office tower. Located in the Mong Kok district of Kowloon, the complex occupies two entire blocks defined by Argyle Street, Portland Street, Shantung Street and Reclamation Street. Shanghai Street separates the hotel and office tower from the shopping mall.

The complex was the result of an urban renewal project under Land Development Corporation, later known as Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The project is to cleanse and modernise a dilapidated area of Kowloon previously known as a red light district, especially Portland Street.

The 59 storey Grade A office tower, Langham Place Office Tower, is the tallest in Kowloon at 255.1 m (837 ft). The complex has a gross floor area of 1.8 million sq. ft., houses the office tower, a 15 storey mall including 2 basements that spirals up to the 13th floor, and a 665 room hotelRaymond Wang, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=9319&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20040903&sear_year=2004 Deals near on two office floors at Langham Place] , The Standard, September 03, 2004] . The mall is connected to the Mong Kok MTR station of the MTR via an underground passage (Exit C3), opened on March 3 2005.

History

The HK$10 billion project is a 50:50 joint development by the Great Eagle Group and the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") of Hong Kong [Nicole Kwok, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=32103&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20031121&sear_year=2003 Great Eagle see upturn for hotels] , The Standard, November 21, 2003] , to provide a modern and comfortable commercial space in the heart of Mong Kok.

The plan to redevelop part of the Mong Kok landscape was driven by the URA. The "Land Development Corporation", as it was then known, had spent some HK$4.4 billion to acquire the convert|129120|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on site since approximately 1989Karen Chan, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=21216&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19991216&sear_year=1999 Government demands $300m premium for Mongkok site] , The Standard, December 16, 1999] . It was the single largest project undertaken by Great EagleRaymond Wang, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=10509&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20050702&sear_year=2005 Langham Place offices may reap $7b] , The Standard, July 02, 2005] , which had geared up significantly to finance the project [Eli Lau, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=7862&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20050513&sear_year=2005 Great Eagle hopes sale cuts gearing ratio to 50pc] , The Standard, May 13, 2005] . An estimated HK$300 million land premium was paid by the developers to the Government.

Office tower

The office tower is a 255.1 metre (837 ft) tall skyscraper, is the 100th tallest building in the world and the tallest office building on the Kowloon peninsula when it opened.

The 59 story tower, which contains convert|770000|sqft|m2|-3|abbr=on of office space, was completed in 2004 after beginning construction in 1999 under the design of Wong & Ouyang (HK) and The Jerde Partnership. The tower has 59 floors above ground and 5 underground floors which are used as a car park. Each of the floors which are above ground have approximately convert|17000|sqft|m2|-2, and contain offices.

As well as being the tallest building in Kowloon, the Langham Place Office Tower is the 90th tallest existing building in the world when measured up to the highest architectural point, which is the dome. The entire tower is covered in light-reflecting blue glass which is separated at two intervals by gray glass. The tower's dome illuminates at night on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in a light show where it slowly changes colour.

At its opening, office space was being let at rental prices ranging from HK$13 to HK$22 per sq ft per month.

In July 2005, wishing to reduce debt levels, Great Eagle announced the sale of individual floors of the Langham Place Office Tower, launched officially in August 2005.

On 14 February 2008, Champion REIT announced it would acquire Langham Place for HK$12.5 billion from Great Eagle. The consideration valued the retail portion at HK$12,519 per square foot and about HK$6,815 for the office portion.Alfred Liu, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=1&art_id=61587&sid=17610196&con_type=3&d_str=20080215&sear_year=2008 "Champion REIT buys Langham mall for $12.5b"] , "The Standard", February 15, 2008]

Hotel

The Langham Place Hotel is located at 555, Shanghai Street. Managed by the Langham Hotels International, it is the only 5 star hotel located in Mong Kok. Its 42 floors house 665 guest rooms, of which 280 "deluxe", 284 "executive", and 101 "Langham Hotel Club" rooms.

hopping mall

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Langham Place

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caption = Langham Place "Xpresscalators" to the 4th floor
location =
address =
coordinates =
opening_date = November 2004
closing_date =
developer = Great Eagle Group, Urban Renewal Authority
owner = Champion REIT
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors =
floor_area = 60,000 m²
floors = 15
parking =
website =
footnotes =

Due to the high land price, and the higher yield on retail property, Langham departs from the common western model of the flat shopping mall. The Langham mall is the second "vertical mall" in Hong Kong. Its convert|600000|sqft|m2|-4|abbr=on. of retail space is configured over 15 levels, with convert|60000|sqft|m2|-3|abbr=on. of space from the second basement level to third floor; from the fourth floor upwards the floor area is convert|40000|sqft|m2|-3|abbr=onDanny Chung, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=48&art_id=27468&sid=5779401&con_type=1&d_str=20051209&sear_year=2005 Reach for the sky] , The Standard, December 09, 2005] .

There is a food court on the 4th and a cinema on the 8th run by UA Cinemas with six screens and 1,122 seats in total.

The rental model includes a base rent of between HK$50 to HK$300 psf, plus a variable component calculated based on 10 to 15% of retailers' turnoverEli Lau, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=4187&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20041118&sear_year=2004 Great Eagle sees annual Langham rent of $300m] , The Standard, November 18, 2004] .

The mall opened in November 2004.

Unique design features

Happy Man - The 2,700-kilogram sculpture commissioned from American designer Larry Bell, at the front entrance of the arcade.

Xpresscalators - The longest escalators within a shopping mall in the territory. A pair of them is located on the 4th floor leading up to the 8th floor, and another pair leads to the 12th floor. These long escalators have been designed to reduce the "horizontal drift" of shoppers, thus keeping them in the mall.

The Spiral - a section of the shopping mall from the 9th to 13th floor of the building.

Digital Sky - architectural feature on level 13 where computerised images are projected onto the ceiling the dining area. The Lighting was originally Designed and programmed By Jason Saunders of Photonic-Motion in Melbourne Australia, in sequence with video on a Wholehog 2 PC running midi time code.Sylvia Hui, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=11852&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=20041020&sear_year=2004 'Happy Man' to greet new Mong Kok mall shoppers] , The Standard, October 20, 2004] .

Cultural references

*The building is used as main background for the TVB drama series: Under the Canopy of Love.

Gallery

References

ee also

* Yau Tsim Mong District
* List of tallest buildings in Hong Kong

External links

* [http://www.langhamplace.com.hk/ Official web site of Langham Place]
* [http://hongkong.langhamplacehotels.com/ Official web site of Langham Place Hotel]
* [http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1278 SkyscraperPage.com's entry]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=100676 Emporis.com] - Building ID 100676