Antenna spire 274 m (899 ft) Top floor 249 m (817 ft) Floor area 4 Floors 60 Phone +82 2-789-5663 | Roof 250 m (820 ft) Floor count 60 (3 underground) Height 250 m Opened July 1985 | |
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Location Yeoui Island, Seoul, South Korea Address 50 63-ro, Yeoeuido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea Similar N Seoul Tower, Gyeongbokgung, Namsan, Lotte World, Yeouido Station Profiles | ||
The 63 Building (Korean: 63 빌딩 or 육삼 빌딩), officially the Hanhwa 63 City, is a skyscraper on Yeouido island, overlooking the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It was designed by the American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). At 250 meters (819 ft) high, it was the tallest building outside North America when it opened in July 1985, and remains the tallest gold-clad structure in the world. It stood as South Korea's tallest building until the Hyperion Tower surpassed it in 2003, but remained the country's tallest commercial building until the Northeast Asia Trade Tower was topped-out in 2009.
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The 63 Building was built as a landmark for the 1988 Summer Olympics. 63 is something of a misnomer since only 60 floors are above ground level. Floors 61-63 are restricted areas. The skyscraper is the headquarters of Korea Life Insurance, Industrial Bank of Korea Securities, and other major financial companies.
History
The 63 Building's construction broke ground in February 1980, at the height of South Korea's economic boom. It was built at a cost of 180,000,000,000 won and completed construction in May 1985. The building was originally named the DLI 63 building, for Daehan Life Insurance. In 2000, Hanwha Group renamed the building 63 City and it became part of the group in 2002.
Facilities
The 60th floor houses the world's highest art gallery and an observation deck known as the 63 Golden Tower, that allows visitors to see as far as Incheon on clear days. The 59th floor features international restaurants called Walking in the Cloud, while the 58th floor houses family restaurants called Touch the Sky. Observation elevators equipped with windows enable their passengers to view the city as they ride up to (or down from) the observation deck. In the evening some elevators are available exclusively for couples. Known as Love Elevators, these give guests a one-minute exclusive ride. The lower floors house an indoor shopping mall with approximately 90 stores, an IMAX Theater, and a large aquarium. A convention center and banquet hall are also housed within the building.
In popular culture
The 63 Building was featured in the computer game, SimCity 3000 Unlimited, and featured on the cover of SimCity 3000 Unlimited. In the game it can be built as a landmark entitled the 'Korea Life Building'.