1 · Position
The 1990s Airport Core Programme brought the Airport Express into Central and reclaimed harbour opposite the island to build Hong Kong Station; the ground above the station was planned for offices, hotels and retail. A design competition was won by César Pelli, working with Rocco Yim. One ifc opened in 1998, Two ifc in 2003 at 412 metres and 88 floors — the tallest in Hong Kong until 2010. Nearly three million square feet of offices, a four-level mall with more than two hundred brands, and the Four Seasons above it, holding Lung King Heen and Caprice.
2 · ⚑ The tower that was not built
The inherited master plan had five towers; the developers combined the two on the northern site into one, and Two ifc was conceived. Removing a forty-storey tower freed the podium roof for a public park of 1.3 hectares instead of 0.7, eliminated the wall effect along the harbour, and greatly improved visual permeability through the site. The Library records it because it is the rarest decision in this group: a developer building less, and getting a better place for it.
3 · Why it is in the Library
It is a transport interchange with a luxury hotel on top — seven ferry piers, two rail interchanges, bus and taxi terminals, twelve footbridges, and airport check-in on the premises. Everything in this group aspires to be a city within a city; this one is also the door to the city, and a guest of the Four Seasons can check a bag for a flight without leaving the complex.
4 · Candour
The project required the demolition of Queen's Pier and the Star Ferry Pier, which was contested at the time and remains so; the Library records the loss alongside the park. Sources give Two ifc's height as 412 metres and as 415, and the entry carries both rather than choosing.