Zifeng Tower, Nanjing, China

Height (Architectural): 450 mHeight (Occupied): 316 mFloors: 89Observation Decks: 272 m

The construction of the Zifeng Tower started in 2005 on the Zhongyang Road, in the heart of central Nanjing, Gulou Square. In late 2009 it was already completed offering office and retail spaces, restaurants and hotel.

Highly qualified professionals worked on this project: design was carried out by Skidmore Owings & Merrill; main contractor for the project was Shanghai Construction Group, a company with more than 50 years of professional experience in China's construction & development sector.

At the designing stage the height of the building was planned to be maximum three hundred meters. Its preliminary name was Nanjing Greenland Financial Center. Following advantageous changes to the design added the building tallness and made it recognizable with ledged - shaped solution.

Structure of the building is composite; facade system is a curtain wall made of glass. Main usage of the building is office and commercial. Restaurants and an observatory are constructed at the very high peak of the tower, being rounded with a spire.

Tremendous Lighting Ceremony of the 7th (at this time) tallest building in the world was held on December 18. Magnificent ceremony opened the Tower, a golden dragon leaping from the inside of the building with laser radiation illuminated the sky of Nanjing. Zifeng Tower is a crucial step towards the enhancement of urban construction level which shows an obvious high-end construction industry for the city.

By Lusi Barseghyan, www.building.am