CTF Finance Centre, Postmodern skyscraper in Zhujiang New Town, China
The CTF Finance Centre, also called East Tower, is a 530-metre skyscraper in Zhujiang New Town with 111 floors above ground and five basement levels. Its glass facade is lined with white glazed terracotta mullions that project from the windows, giving the pale silver-grey tower a ribbed texture. The profile steps back at each change of use, and the top is angled.
Chow Tai Fook won the last commercial plot in Zhujiang New Town on 12 September 2008 with a bid of 2,860 yuan per square metre, paying 1.55 billion yuan in total including the underground-space fee. Construction started on 28 September 2009; the below-ground work finished on 6 August 2011 and the structure was topped out on 28 October 2014. The tower was completed in October 2016 and received a Luban Prize for the 2020–2021 cycle.
The name comes from Chow Tai Fook, the jewellery group that financed the tower through a 2008 land bid and owns the K11 mall in its podium. That mall, K11 Art Mall, opened on 31 March 2018 across ten levels and mixes shops with art installations, plus galleries on the third and fourth floors that host exhibitions, performances and workshops.
86 elevators connect the office floors with the apartments and the Rosewood Hotel on the upper levels, with the fastest cabins traveling at 21 meters per second. The view from the higher floors reaches the Pearl River and beyond on clear days.
Engineers integrated a square core with mega columns that correspond to outriggers and belt trusses, giving the building stability in a region with seismic activity. This construction solution allows the tower to reach its height without visible deformation during wind or earthquakes.
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