Mon, Jun 17, 2002 page12

• The Taipei Financial Center tries to change its luck

  After surviving several years of good and bad press -- including the collapse of cranes on top of the structure during the March 31 earthquake -- construction on the 101-floor Taipei Financial Center is gradually getting back up to speed. Last week, `Taipei Times' staff reporter Patrick Kearns sat down with the frontman for Taiwan's first skyscraper, the center's vice president Terry Shen, to discuss rumors of a name change and how they intend to renew public confidence in the structure.

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  Taipei Times: Rumor has it that the Taipei Financial Center (台北金融大樓), as part of its public relations overhaul, is planning to change its name to Taipei 101?

  Terry Shen (沈雲飛): We haven't formally made the name change yet. But when the formal announcement is made [in July] it will be called "Taipei 101." [The reason being that] in Taipei too many buildings have already used the name Taipei Financial Center. Also, we want a name that is catchy and easy to remember. The name also reflects the project, in other words, the number of floors in the facility.

  TT: Not counting the height of the mast, where will Taipei 101 stand in comparison with the world's tallest buildings?

  

  The Taipei Financial Center rises proudly above the Taipei skyline in this artist's rendition of the planned final product.

  PHOTO: TAIPEI FINANCIAL CENTER

  Shen: At 508m of inhabitable floor area, we may come in as the world's tallest. But we get our actual ranking from the Tower 100 Council. They are a US organization that determines the rankings of the world's 100 tallest structures.

  TT: Who are the biggest shareholders in the project and which of these are major anchor tenants in the tower?

  Shen: The biggest single shareholder is China United Trust & Investment Corp (中聯信託) -- they own a 20 percent stake. The next leading shareholder is the China Development Industrial bank (中華開發銀行). The most important anchor tenant of the facility will be the Taiwan Stock Exchange (證交所) -- they will occupy about seven floors in the building, or about 6,000 pings. Also one of our shareholders -- Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託銀行) -- have agreed to take nearly the same amount of space, but they have not yet signed any formal agreements.

  

  The center's vice president, Terry Shen, illustrates a point to ``Taipei Times'' reporter Patrick Kearns.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  Actually, we think some of the best space should be reserved for foreign tenants, such as investment banks, securities houses or accounting firms. We hope the building will have an international make-up of companies, not just local firms -- that's not our target, because it will be an international financial center.

  TT: What kind of interest have foreign businesses shown in making Taipei 101 their home?

  Shen: Usually, before making a big investment in a major real-estate project, clients won't make their intentions known. But based on discussions with the top real-estate agents, like Jones Lang LaSalle or Colliers Jardine, they say that almost all foreign players -- say for example securities houses -- have long set their current rental contracts with landlords to terminate close to the scheduled 2004 completion date of Taipei 101. So their intentions are clear. But I think that the last six months prior to completion will be the most crucial time for them to decide whether to move in or not.

  TT: That 2004 completion date is already two years behind schedule. What were the biggest delays in the project and what makes you believe you can keep on track for 2004?

  Shen: The podium tower, which is basically the shopping center complex that forms the first few ground levels of the complex that surrounds the main tower, underwent several design changes, which pushed back the schedule of the retail area. Of course, the March 31 earthquake also delayed the whole opening schedule. In addition, about two-and-a-half years ago we had a problem with the height, in relation to Sungshan Airport's flight patterns. At the time the question was whether the structure should be lowered to 90 floors and we had to do an extensive review of any structural design changes that may have been necessary. This also delayed the project.

  TT: This issue was later resolved when the airport upgraded its landing navigation system and adopted a new flight pattern away from your building. Did your organization put pressure on or try to influence the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) to make those changes?

  Shen: No, that's impossible. Actually, the Central Government requested that the airport alter their flight pattern and circle within 3km of the airport, rather than fly over the central city. The goal was to reduce noise over the city that could impact city development -- and also to reduce the danger [of planes falling out of the sky and onto the city]. So, when we applied for the building license the [ASC] authorities said we are not within the restricted area. But they didn't really take into consideration the landing and take-off process. But when we applied for the red aviation warning light that goes on top of all tall structures, the Council suddenly [woke up] and realized, "Oh, such a tall building" and then proceeded to make the problem known to the public. Later, the Control Yuan investigated and found the project was approved by the ASC but [the implications were] not fully thought out. So they did end up altering the flight path away from the city and we went back to the original 101-floor plan.

  TT: What is the total cost of the Taipei 101 project and what additional costs were incurred from the earthquake?

  Shen: The total cost of the project is NT$56 billion. We have collected NT$17 billion and we need to collect another NT$4.2 billion by the end of this year [to keep on schedule]. But the earthquake created another NT$800 million [in additional costs], so totally, by the end of this year we are looking to raise NT$5 billion.

  TT: What is the level of foreign participation in the project and in what specific areas?

  Shen: From the start of the project we used Chinese designers to add an oriental look to the structure. But for the technical side we cannot rely on Taiwanese skills because we have no experience building a massive skyscraper.

  For structural engineering we used what is probably the world's most renowned structural designer, Thorton-Tomasetti from New York. Because we want the material technology of this building to be of an international standard.

  In almost every aspect we consulted with foreign firms -- from the fire-fighting system, to air-conditioning to lighting and plumbing. Most of them are from New York, as that city has extensive experience in high-rise buildings. As for who has the experience to manage these types of sites, we chose New York's Turner International for project management. But keep in mind this is an island that [unlike New York] has typhoons and earthquakes. So we chose Japan's Kumagai Gumi to do the general project management. This is a firm with international experience and a strong understanding of earthquake zones and of managing major construction projects in a very crowded city. Obviously, also very important is the steel-structure contractor, which is a joint-venture between Japan's Nippon Steel and Taiwan's China Steel Corp (中鋼).

  As for elevators, we found Toshiba has some of the fastest, safest elevators. In this building, and the selection of all the participants, safety has been the number-one priority.

  TT: With other regional office towers, like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, only half-occupied and the office-rental market sagging, what strategy do you have to fill Taipei 101 with tenants?

  Shen: In Taipei, Tokyo or New York for example, building a high-rise tower makes much more sense [and is easier to fill with tenants] because land costs are very high in comparison with Malaysia. If you look at the offices in Taipei with the most vacancies, they are the buildings that are 10-20 stories high. The better occupancy rates are in places like the Far East Building (遠東) and the Shin Kong Building (新光) because of the prestige and high-quality standards they offer. So when foreign players come into this market we are confident we will set a new standard that is unequaled in Taiwan. Realtors continue to tell us that clients are willing to pay premium prices -- it all depends on how good the facilities are.

  TT: Two-and-a-half months have passed since the March 31 quake that tragically took the lives of five people and caused hundreds of millions of Taiwan dollars in damage. Currently several investigations into the accident are nearing completion and you have already been given the go-ahead to resume construction on most of the lower floors. Which reports are complete and which still needs to be completed?

  Shen: At the time of the quake construction was up to the 34th floor. The only actual damage was on some of the frame structure on the 34th floor, nothing below that. We have received approval to resume construction on floors below the 24th-floor level. We are currently awaiting approval to resume construction on the levels above that, pending a review by National Taiwan University of an already completed report on how to strengthen the replacement tower crane so that no similar incidents occur. Secondly, the actual cause of the cranes' collapse is being reviewed: whether it was the result of [unforeseeable] earthquake stress or, say for example, the result of human error. That report, from the Taipei Structural Engineers Association, should come out this week. The third review was on the structural safety of the building. While those tests have been completed and there are no structural problems, they still need to complete the written report.

  Let me clarify that the collapse of the cranes was beyond our [wildest] imagination. Prior to that we had a totally accident-free workplace.

  TT: One of the main hurdles you now face is to restore public confidence in the project. How do you plan to surmount that challenge?

  Shen: The company policy has always been built on total transparency. The PR question now is, how do we transfer the technical design criteria we have used and the high safety standards of this building -- how do we transfer that information in a clear, easy-to-understand format to the public. So we have brought in Ogilvy PR to communicate that message to the public. In reality, the public does not fully understand high-rise building construction, so we have to [perfect] the transfer of that information to them.

  TT: Taipei residents have experienced several major quakes in the last few years and therefore many are concerned about the fault line located near the Taipei 101 site, better known as the Taipei Fault. What kind of information can you offer to alleviate the public's fears that this fault line is too close to Taipei 101?

  Shen: About 10 years ago, when the Department of Rapid Transit Systems [under the Taipei City Government] was planning the Hsinyi Line of the Mass Rapid Transit system, they did extensive research on the Taipei Fault. They found it has not been active for about 10,000 years and is far from our site -- about 200m. The Taipei Financial Center did further detailed research [into the issue] after we were awarded this BOT (build-operate-transfer) project. We invited local and foreign experts and professors to study the issue and found it has not been active for at least 45,000 years. This is also [the conclusion of] the Central Geological Survey of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, [whom have] taken the Taipei Fault off the official list of active faults.

  [Regardless of the fact that] the Taipei Fault is categorized as non-active, the Taipei Financial Center has [extensively] reinforced the foundation. There are 557 piles [anchoring pillars] under the building. The length of each pile is about 75-80m long and is driven another 25-30m, into the bedrock below. The seismic design of Taipei 101 can handle an earthquake of more than magnitude 7 [on the Richter scale] and still be stable. Also keep in mind that the March 31 quake that took down the cranes was, according to the Central Weather Bureau, centered under the sea, south of Hualien. There is no relationship between the March 31 earthquake and the Taipei Fault. Foreign experts have told us that, with the earthquake-proofing we have planned, if an earthquake was to occur so severe as to topple the building, there would also be no other structures left standing in Taipei.

  TT: As with many tall buildings around the globe, Taipei 101 also has an 800-ton damper ball to counter wind and potential quake sway -- how does that device work?

  Shen: In Taiwan we face two significant natural conditions, typhoons and earthquakes. For high-rise structures the impact of typhoons is even greater than that of earthquakes. In strong winds, tall buildings will bend and move.

  The ball acts as a wind damper, countering the sway of the building to reduce movement. The gold-colored ball will be on display in the building and will be a confidence-builder for all who see this amazing object, designed by Canadian wind-tunnel consultants Rowan, Williams, Davies and Irwin.
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