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Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.
FKI Tower
FKI Head Office Building, Federation of Korean Industries Head Office Building
Building
Completed
2013
office
composite
245.5 m / 805 ft
50
6
632
33
6 m/s
116,037 m² / 1,249,012 ft²
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Proposed
Construction Start
Completed
Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
These are firms that consult on the design of a building's façade. May often be referred to as "Cladding," "Envelope," "Exterior Wall," or "Curtain Wall" Consultant, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Façade Consultant" exclusively.
Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).
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Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Usually takes on the balance of the architectural effort not executed by the "Design Architect," typically responsible for the construction documents, conforming to local codes, etc. May often be referred to as "Executive," "Associate," or "Local" Architect, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Architect of Record" exclusively.
The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
These are firms that consult on the design of a building's façade. May often be referred to as "Cladding," "Envelope," "Exterior Wall," or "Curtain Wall" Consultant, however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Façade Consultant" exclusively.
Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).
Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia 2014 Award of Excellence
2014 CTBUH Awards
Fourth Building Tall Lecture Series: Greening Tall
1 February 2018 - Event
28 March 2018 | Seoul
Building Tall Skyscraper Lecture Series: Naturalizing the Vertical Realm
Thursday, February 1, 2018. Chicago, United States of America. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) held...
25 June 2020
Curtain Wall Façades on the New Generation of Supertall Buildings Present and Future Directions
Sae Hwang Oh, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Beginning in the late 19th century, construction of skyscrapers spread throughout Chicago, New York City, and then the world as demand of space in buildings...
The new head offices for the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) are a major new addition to the skyline of Seoul, Korea. The tower features an innovative exterior wall, designed specifically for the project. The building’s unique skin helps reduce internal heating and cooling loads and collects energy through photovoltaic panels that are integrated into the spandrel areas of the southeast and southwest faces. FKI clearly illustrates the advancement in building facades from simple wall systems to high-performance, integrated architectural and engineering design solutions.
FKI’s unique exterior wall system combines maximum access to views, energy efficiency strategies and energy generation technologies. By angling the spandrel panels 30 degrees toward the sun, the amount of energy collected by the photovoltaic panels is maximized. Below the spandrel panels, the vision panels are angled 15 degrees toward the ground, minimizing the amount of direct sun radiation and glare.
The use of building integrated photovoltaic panels (BIPV) was seen as an architecturally appealing way to meet a strict zoning requirement that 5 percent of the building’s energy be created onsite, while the optimization of the panels became a driving factor in developing the architectural expression. The local electric utility company (KEPCO) provided a favorable 5-to-1 buy-back rate for onsite green-energy generation. The payback for the BIPV panels, which would have typically been 30-35 years, was reduced to about seven years, due to these incentives.
As part of the initial design process, an Ecotech model was used to determine the optimal areas for BIPV on an orthogonal building, given the surrounding buildings which partially shade the site. It was determined that BIPV would be best used on the southeast and southwest faces, above Level 14. Not all sides of the building are currently suitable for BIPV; therefore, it was important to design panels that were interchangeable with insulated spandrel panels for maximum flexibility, without a significant change in the symmetry of building expression. The design also allows for the panels to be replaced, as new technology that can take advantage of indirect light becomes available.
The result is a unique folded exterior texture that is both purposeful and visually distinctive. Benefits include a reduction of glare and heat gains from direct sunlight, while maintaining a high level of indirect light. Through most of the day, the building is able to use the geometry of the exterior wall to self-shade the perimeter spaces that would normally be inundated with direct sunlight.
FKI features an expansive rooftop atrium garden that also has custom photovoltaic panels. As with the exterior wall panels, the ideal angle of the panel placement on the roof was studied in detail. Within the limited area of FKI’s roof, it was determined that a 10-degree angle allowed for more panels to be installed closer together, minimizing the effect of the panels casting shadows on each other and ultimately producing more solar energy for the building.
The sculptural podium piece’s amenities, available for public use, include a banquet hall, a central restaurant and a conference center. Site orientation was altered during the course of design, sliding the tower to the west. This opened up more site frontage and allowed the podium to be closer to the street, giving it a presence it would not have had if located behind the tower, and allows more space for outdoor public landscaped courtyards.
Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia 2014 Award of Excellence
2014 CTBUH Awards
28 March 2018 | Seoul
Building Tall Skyscraper Lecture Series: Naturalizing the Vertical Realm
Thursday, February 1, 2018. Chicago, United States of America. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) held...
06 November 2014 | Seoul
Dr. Peter Irwin, Founding Partner, RWDI Consulting Engineers, Michael Adlerstein, Assistant Secretary-General & Executive Director, United Nations Capital Master Plan, John Gering, Managing Partner, HLW...
06 November 2014 | Seoul
The new head offices for the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) are a major new addition to the skyline of Seoul, Korea. The tower features...
06 November 2014 | Seoul
Interview: FKI Head Office Building
Juan Betancur, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is interviewed by Chris Bentley regarding the Best Tall Building Featured Finalist, the FKI Head Office Building,...
05 February 2010 | Seoul
Tall and Supertall Buildings: Structure and Skin Performance
There are many challenges and opportunities in designing the structure and skin of high performing tall buildings. Examples from different regions highlight responses to wind...
25 June 2020
Curtain Wall Façades on the New Generation of Supertall Buildings Present and Future Directions
Beginning in the late 19th century, construction of skyscrapers spread throughout Chicago, New York City, and then the world as demand of space in buildings...
01 December 2017
This paper outlines the processes and strategies studied and selected by the team during the design stages of the project for the incorporation of BIPV...
01 December 2017
A modern and highly-sustainable addition to the skyline of Seoul, South Korea has been completed; the Federation of Korean Industries Headquarters (FKI). The signature saw-toothed...
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