US architect Kohn Pedersen Fox has ousted rival US firm Skidmore Owings Merrill as architect of a 480 m high office tower on Hong Kong's Kowloon waterfront.
SOM last year submitted a concept design for a 580 m high office on the site to developer Sun Hung Kai Properties.

However, the developer has since scaled down the proposal and awarded the contract, in an invited competition, to Kohn Pedersen Fox. It beat SOM, Cesar Pelli and Kenzo Tange to the job.

SOM's design, which helped Sun Hung Kai secure development rights for the 500,000 m2 site above Kowloon Station last October, was for a tower topped by a 100 m spire that would have been the tallest building in Hong Kong. It also included four 30- to 40-storey blocks next to the skyscraper.

Under the new plan, the spire has been removed from the 102-storey tower. Sun Hung Kai is also understood to be proposing to replace the four lower blocks with a 100-storey office and a 70-storey residential tower.

The developer has delayed submitting a planning application for the scheme while Hong Kong's planning department undertakes public consultation over whether height limits should be imposed on waterfront buildings to reduce adverse impact on Victoria Harbour.

A spokesperson for Sun Hung Kai said: "The exact number of storeys has yet to be finalised. We hope to unveil a scheme by August."

  • International consortiums are racing to meet the 8 June deadline for an open competition to design a new arts and entertainment district for the Hong Kong government. The quarter, on a 40 ha reclaimed waterfront site in West Kowloon, next to Kowloon Airport Station, is expected to include a 2200-seat theatre, a 60,000-seat stadium and an open plaza.