Lotte World Tower is a supertall skyscraper in Seoul, South Korea. The tower is known as the tallest building in Korea. Below are facts about the Lotte World Tower and some related information.
Name:
The official name of the tower is Lotte World Tower(In Korean: 롯데월드타워), Lotte World Tower is named after a nearby recreation complex, which is known as Lotte World, both the recreation complex and the tower are developed and owned by Lotte Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in South Korea.
Other names of the tower are Lotte Jamsil Super Tower, and Lotte World Premium Tower.
Location: Lotte World Tower is located in Shinchon-Dong, Songpa-Ku, Seoul, South Korea.
The tower is built in close proximity to the Lotte World Park and near the bank of Han River.
Height:
Lotte World Tower stands 555 meters tall, the tower doesn't contain spire, but the uppermost part is composed of parapet, the highest occupied floor is 497 meters.
At 555 meters, Lotte World Tower is the tallest building in Korea Peninsula, a title was previously held by Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea before 2017.
Globally, Lotte World Tower ranks 5th (6th if the unfinished Goldin Finance 117 is included), ahead of the 541-foot One World Trade Center in New York City. See here to check out the list of the tallest buildings in the world in 2023.
The tower has 123 floors above ground and 6 floors below ground.
Uses: Office, Hotel, Retail, Observation
Like many other skyscrapers in the world, Lotte World Tower is a mixed use building, it contains a wide variety of spaces for different functions, including retail stores, offices, a luxury hotel, observation decks and an "officetel".
Offices occupy the 14th to 37th floor.
Officetels is the hybrid of offices and hotels, they are commonly found in Korea, offering accommodations for people who work in the building and feature services typically only found in hotels, such as furnishings, front deck services, and gym access. Officetels occupy the levels 42 to 71 of the tower.
The hotel in the tower is South Korea's newest luxury landmark hotel, the hotel is operated by Signiel Seoul, it occupies the levels 76 to 101.
The podium of Lotte World Tower features a 10-story shopping mall, known as Lotte World Mall, it opened to public in 2014 when the tower was still under construction, the space of the mall is as large as the tower itself (the podium doesn't count as the tower itself), and attracts 28 million people annually.
The top 10 floors of the tower are remained for observation decks and some other entertainment facilities, which includes a rooftop bar.
Design:
Lotte World Tower is designed by American architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, the firm also designed many other tallest skyscrapers in the world, including Shanghai World Financial Center, Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center, Guangzhou CTF Finance Center, Hong Kong International Commerce Center, and one of the most notable skyscrapers being built in New York City, the One Vanderbilt.
The vertical form of Lotte World Tower is designed to appear sleek and tapered, making the tower standing out from Seoul's mountainous topography.
One of two vertical seams found on two sides of the tower that rise from bottom to peak is designed to point towards the old center of Seoul.
The design of various interior program spaces of the tower is inspired by the traditional Korea arts, including Korean ceramics and calligraphy, and is integrated with modern aesthetics.
The exterior of the tower is comprised of light-toned silver glass, and accented by a filigree of white painted metal.
Lotte World Tower is designed to be able to resist an earthquake of 9 on the Richter scale and winds up to 80 m/s.
Development:
In September 2010, Lotte Group applied for a permit to build a 123-story skyscraper near Han River, the project was approved by authorities in November.
The development was managed by Lotte Property & Development, a subsidiary of Lotte Group.
The construction for Lotte World Tower was contracted by Lotte Engineering & Construction, another subsidiary of Lotte Group themselves.
The construction began in March 2011.
The tower structurally topped out in December 2015 and a ceremony was held.
In March 2016, the tower was fully topped out after the construction on its parapet finished.
On April 2, 2017, Lotte World Tower officially opened, fireworks was displayed on the tower to celebrate the opening.
Tourism and sightseeing:
Main article: Guide to visiting Lotte World Tower observation deck
Lotte World Tower has a public area on its uppermost floors, occupying a total of ten floors. The public area features observation decks and some other entertainment facilities.
The highest floor of the observatory is at 497 meters off the ground, it's the 4th tallest observation deck in the world, only after the observation decks on Ping An Finance Center, Burj Khalifa, and Shanghai Tower.
The glass floor on this floor makes the observatory the world’s highest glass-bottomed observation deck.
The Lotte World Tower observatory was opened on April 3, 2017, the operator estimates the observatory will attract 50 million tourists every year.
Visitors will access the observation deck through the high speed elevators, ascending with a speed of 20 m/s, it is claimed to be the fastest elevators in the world that can whisk visitors from the hall at the bottom to the observation deck on the top floor within one minute.
Learn more about the observation deck on Lotte World Tower at here.