Type Residential Roof 256 m (839.9 ft) Completed 2003 Floor count 75 | Opening 2003 Architect Wong & Ouyang Construction started 2000 | |
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Address Elements, Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong | ||
Union Square is a commercial and residential real estate project in Hong Kong on the West Kowloon reclamation. Covering 13.54 hectares (33.5 acres), the site has a gross floor area of 1,090,026 square metres (11,732,940 sq ft), approximately the size of the Canary Wharf development in London. As of 2011, the development houses some of the tallest buildings in Hong Kong — including the tallest commercial building in Hong Kong, the 118-story International Commerce Centre and the loftiest residential tower in Hong Kong, The Cullinan (270-metre (890 ft) high).
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Location and accommodation
Union Square is located at 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It occupies part of the 340 hectares of land reclaimed from Victoria Harbour in the 1990s to construct a highway and rail link to the new Hong Kong International Airport, and it integrates the Kowloon Station of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. The built area includes 5,866 residential units (totalling 608,026 m2 (6,544,740 sq ft)), 2,230 hotel rooms, and 2,490 serviced apartments with 167,472 m2 (1,802,650 sq ft) of combined hotel and serviced apartment space and 231,778 m2 (2,494,840 sq ft) of office space. This development has a 82,750 m2 (890,700 sq ft) shopping mall, Elements.
The name Union Square is not well known and is seldom used, and as such, people tend to refer to its constituent parts, such as the Elements mall, the ICC, the W Hotel and the various luxurious private apartment complexes.
Planning and concept
The contract to build and operate the airport railway was awarded to MTR in 1992. The master plan for Union Square, comprising the massive air rights development surrounding Kowloon Station, was laid out by TFP Farrells. The architects envisioned a three-dimensional mixed-use urban quarter, with numerous towers sitting atop a massive podium.
According to Sir Terry Farrell, the MTR initially wanted a dispersed train station with discreet entrances, but he argued for a grand station hall concept with layered space oriented around Kowloon Station providing a central focal point. Transport infrastructure occupies the underground level and first floor – loading facilities and platforms for MTR trains on the Tung Chung and the Airport Express lines occupy the sub-terranean level, while the ground level has bus stations, parking garage entrances and mechanical rooms. The Elements Mall on the upper decks take up 146,000 square metres (1,570,000 sq ft), with retail space occupied by luxury brands, chain stores, a cinema, a supermarket, restaurants, and an ice-rink.
On the roof of the Union Square shopping mall, three storeys above ground, is a pseudo ground level public place with walkways, gardens and a central plaza surrounded by outdoor cafés and bars. Entrance to the various tower blocks of Union Square are located at this level. Although Union Square was conceived as interconnected space centred on transport infrastructure, it was criticised in a 2013 University of Hong Kong study as being cut off from its surroundings, especially for pedestrians. Paul Zimmerman said Union Square was "an island of the rich disconnected from its surroundings", and a lesson for future urban planners. This concern is shared by Farrell, who said there were site constraints were pre-determined, and little could be done to mitigate them.
The Waterfront
The Waterfront (Chinese: 漾日居; Cantonese Yale: Yeuhng yaht gēui), phase I of Union Square, was developed by the consortium led by Wing Tai Asia, including Temasek Holdings, Singapore Land, Keppel Land, Lai Sun Development, World-wide Investment and USI Holdings. It consists of 1,288 apartments in 6 residential towers. It was completed in 2000, together with Dickson Cyber Express, a 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) cyber shopping mall of Dickson Concepts. But Dickson Cyber Express was closed after the Internet bubble burst. It has a private clubhouse. There are various facilities, for example, swimming pool, badminton court, tennis court, dance room, reading room, karaoke room etc. There is also a party room for holding different kinds of activities. It has its own underground car park for the residents. There are a lot of greening within the estate. And the whole estate is a non-smoking area. Residents need to show their resident cards before entering the estate. Visitors cannot enter without permission.
Sorrento
Sorrento (Chinese: 擎天半島; Cantonese Yale: Kìhngtīn Bundóu) is a residential complex occupying the northern edge of the Union Square. The complex was built by The Wharf Estate Development Ltd. and MTR Corporation. It contains five residential towers completed in 2003, designed by Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd..
The towers are named Sorrento 1 through Sorrento 6. As in many buildings in Hong Kong, tower 4 is omitted because the Cantonese number "4" is a homophone for the Cantonese word "death". All five towers follow the same design however reduced in height consecutively with the tallest being Sorrento 1 and the shortest being Sorrento 6. Sorrento 1 is 256 metres (841 feet) tall with 75 floors. It is the 2nd tallest residential building of Hong Kong, and fifth-tallest residential building in the world. There is a total of 2,126 units in Sorrento. Between Sorrento 2 and Sorrento 3 is a gap, where a foot bridge connects the Sorrento residential complex to Kowloon Station and the Elements mall.
The Harbourside
The Harbourside (Chinese: 君臨天下; Cantonese Yale: Gwānlàhm Tīnhah) is a 255 m (836.6 ft) tall residential skyscraper located at 1 Austin Road West, in the Union Square complex. Construction of the 74-storey building began in 2001 and was completed in 2004 under the design by P & T Architects & Engineers.
From a distance The Harbourside appears as one wall of a building. However, the building is actually three towers joined at the base, middle and top. The gaps between the towers help relieve the stress caused by the wind since the building has a large surface area, allowing it to act as a sail. It was constructed as part of the Kowloon Station development and was the fourth phase. All floors are used for residential purposes.
The tower is the 91st tallest building in the world when measured up to the highest architectural point.
The Arch
The Arch (Chinese: 凱旋門; Cantonese Yale: Hóisyùhn mùhn) is an 81-floor 231-metre (758 feet) tall skyscraper completed in 2006 located in Union Square. It is the third-tallest residential building in Hong Kong, consisting of four towers: Sun Tower, Star Tower, Moon Tower, and Sky Tower. The Star Tower is connected to the Moon Tower, while the Sky Tower is connected to the Sun Tower. The Sun and Moon Towers join at the 69th floor and the floors above to form an arch, hence the name "The Arch".
Sun Hung Kai Properties, the developers for the project, was criticised for its sales tactics at The Arch in 2005. The company was accused of the practice of "internal sales" of uncompleted units, the absence of sale price-lists, and also for hyping sales for flats in The Arch by announcing inflated prices (per square metre) achieved. A buyer apparently paid HK$168 million, or HK$31,300 per square foot, for a 5,360-square-foot (498 m2) penthouse. Sweeteners were allegedly given (discounts given to the same purchaser on other units bought), but were excluded from the calculation. This allowed SHK to raise prices of the next batch of 500 units by 5–10 percent; SHKP has denied the allegations.
The Cullinan
The Cullinan (Chinese: 天璽; Cantonese Yale: Tīnsáai), also referred to as Kowloon Station Development Package 6 or Union Square Phase 6, is a residential complex developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties. The North Tower and South Tower of the Cullinan are Hong Kong's tallest residential towers, with 68 stories and a height of 270 metres (886 feet). Both were completed in 2008 and 2009.
Kowloon Station Development Package 6 was named after the 3,106-carat (621.2 g) Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond in the world, found in 1905. The Cullinan complex was planned to be 45 stories until the cancellation of Union Square Phase 5. The number of floors was then increased to the current 68.
International Commerce Centre
The International Commerce Centre is a 118-floor, 484-meter (1,588 ft) skyscraper completed in 2010, owned and jointly developed by MTR Corporation and Sun Hung Kai Properties. It is currently the world's fourth tallest building as well as the tallest building in Hong Kong. The five-star Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong hotel currently occupies floors 102 to 118.
Shopping complex
Elements, the shopping mall in Union Square, occupies 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2). As of 2008, it had a total of 123 shops, with an ice rink and the 1600-seat multiplex Grand Cinema, currently the largest cinema complex in Hong Kong.
Access
The buildings of Union Square can be accessed easily by public transportation, located on the route of both the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express Line and has a bus terminus.