Tuntex Sky Tower, or the T & C Tower (the Tuntex & Chien-Tai Tower), is a skyscraper in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Situated in the downtown Ling Ya district the structure is 347 m (1140 feet) high and has 85 floors. An antenna pushes the building height to 378 m. The building was constructed from 1994 to 1996 and opened in 1997. It is the tallest in Kaohsiung, and was the tallest in Taiwan until the completion of Taipei 101. It replaced the Shin-Kong Life Tower as the tallest building in Taiwan when it was completed.

The tower has an unusual 'prong' design with two separate 35-floor lower towers merging into a single central tower rising to a spire, leaving a substantial space below the central tower, the design was inspired by the Chinese character kao from the city name.

The building is owned by the Tuntex Group (Chien-Tai is a subsidiary) and is mainly offices, but includes residential space, a department store and the Splendor Kaohsiung hotel occupies the 37th to 80th floors. The observation deck is fed by high speed elevators, capable of speeds of 10 meters per second (22 miles per hour).

The building was deisgned by C.Y. Lee & Partners and Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum.

See also: List of towers, List of skyscrapers

External link

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