Exchange Square (Hong Kong)

Exchange Square
Exchange Square
交易廣場
	One and Two Exchange Square
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Office
Location	8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong
Coordinates	22°17′2″N 114°9′30″E / 22.28389°N 114.15833°E
Construction started	1983; 41 years ago
Completed	1988; 36 years ago
Opening	Phases 1 & 2: 1985; 39 years ago; Phase 3: 1988; 36 years ago;
Cost	Whole project: US$256,410,257
Owner	Hongkong Land
Height
Roof	188 m (617 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	Tower 1: 52; Tower 2: 51; Tower 3: 33;
Floor area	Total:; 130,680 m2 (1,406,628 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	Towers 1 & 2: 22 + 2; Tower 3: 12;
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Palmer & Turner
Developer	Hong Kong Land
Main contractor	Gammon Construction
References

Exchange Square (Chinese: 交易廣場; Jyutping: gaau1 jik6 gwong2 coeng4) is a building complex located in Central, Hong Kong. It houses offices and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It is served by the Central and Hong Kong stations of the MTR metro system.

Most part of the Exchange Square is owned by Hong Kong Land, with the remaining portion owned by the Government. The building has three blocks, namely, One Exchange Square, Two Exchange Square and Three Exchange Square. A shopping block known as The Forum was redeveloped as an office building in 2011–14.

The ground level houses a large bus terminus, Central (Exchange Square) Bus Terminus.

Tenants

The property is the home of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since the 1980s. It also houses many international banking and law firms including Bank of Montreal, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Lloyd George Management, DLA Piper, Ropes & Gray, RPC, Latham & Watkins and Allen & Overy. Other major tenants include Sixth Street Partners, Aberdeen Standard Investment, Angelo Gordon, Bluepool Capital, China Merchants Securities, CSOP, CQS, Evercore, Fanda Partners, Harvest Fund, Hillhouse Capital, Hopu Investment and Janchor Partners. Exchange Square is also home to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the American Club of Hong Kong, and the consulates in Hong Kong of Argentina, Canada, and Japan.

Plot

Hong Kong Land tendered the Government $4.76 billion for the plot in February 1982, when the market was at a record high. Prices subsequently dropped, necessitating its debt to be restructured. In February 1983, HKL obtained an eight-year loan of $4 billion, a record. In December 1983, it announced that the plot was to be mortgaged to secure a $2.5 billion loan facility.^[2] The second instalment of $2 billion on the plot was due in the financial year 1984/85.^[3]

Phase three

Development cost HK$750m, 32-storey 322,000-square-foot (29,900 m²) office tower, 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m²) mall, substructure contractor Gammon Hong Kong.^[4]

The Forum

The Forum (Chinese: 富臨閣) was a shopping complex at the podium level. From 2011 to 2014, it was redeveloped into a seven-storey office building with a floor area of 4,460 sq m. It is wholly occupied by Standard Chartered Bank. The plaza outside the forum includes a landscaped roof garden, stepped terraces and fountains, and a collection of sculptures by artists such as Henry Moore, Ju Ming and Dame Elizabeth Frank.^[5]^[6]

Gallery

Towers of One Exchange Square (back) and Two Exchange Square (front)
One Exchange Square lobby
One Exchange Square garden
One Exchange Square entrance. The colour mural on the left and right sides is Landscape by Sidney Nolan.
Two Exchange Square
One and Two Exchange Square
Jardine House and Towers of One Exchange Square and Two Exchange Square
Three Exchange Square
Three Exchange Square seen from 2IFC
A water buffalo by English sculptor Elisabeth Frink stands in Exchange Square
The Forum at Exchange Square by architect Aedas^[7]
Sitting Couple by Lynn Chadwick, Exchange Square, Hong Kong, China^[8]