2 Murray Road - Skyscraper on the World's Most Expensive Site in Hong Kong

HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s population, numbering more than 7 million people, has a limited amount of land and with a number of mainland Chinese firms moving in - this has resulted in driving up the costs of the already expensive office space in Hong Kong. Shaped by some of the world’s greatest architects, Hong Kong’s iconic skyline symbolizes the city’s status as one of the greatest commercial centers in the world. UK architecture studio Zaha Hadid Architects is set to build 2 Murray Road: skyscraper on the world's most expensive site in Hong Kong.

A 36-storey building located in Hong Kong's central business district, 2 Murray Road will replace a multi-storey car park that was purchased by developer Henderson Land for HK$23.3 million in 2017, making it the world's most expensive site according to numerous news outlets. Hong Kong was dubbed as the world’s priciest office market, and even surpassed prices in Midtown New York and London’s West End.

Standing tall at 190m, 2 Murray Road’s design reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a bauhinia bud about to blossom. The bauhinia x blakeana is known as the hong kong orchid tree and was first propagated in the city’s botanic gardens above the murray road site. With a curving glass facade, 2 Murray Road is set to be built with a high-tensile steel structure, and designed to achieve a sustainability rating of LEED Platinum and the highest 3-Star rating in China's Green Building Rating Program. The building’s distinctive facade was designed to withstand the region’s powerful summer typhoons, hence it consists of 4-ply, double-laminated and double-curved insulated glass units. Its facade is intended to effectively insulate the building and reduce its cooling load. Zaha Hadid Architects has planned to raise the base above ground to make room for courtyards and gardens that result in new civic plazas enveloped by nature.

2 Murray Road offers a very wide span of naturally lit, column free Grade A office space with a 5 meter floor-to-floor height giving maximum flexibility. It has a total floor area of 43,200 square meters. The building boasts a large double height foyer at the ground level. 2 Murray Road is fully equipped with a sky garden that serves as an outdoor recreational space complete with a running track and an aquaponics planting network which acts as a biological air-purifying filter by consuming contaminants. There is also a banquet hall at the top of the tower perfect for a variety of public and corporate events with a bonus of the panoramic views of the city skyline.

Aside from having the most ideal location with close proximity to the Bank of China Tower by IM Pei, and the HSBC building by Foster + Partners, 2 Murray Road’s smart management system will allow tenants a contactless pathway from the street to their workspace that eliminates direct contact with communal surfaces and includes AI-assisted lift controls. With the use of a mobile phone, contactless smart card or biometric recognition, tenants can enter the building, pass security, call lifts to their office floor and access other zones such as lounge areas and washrooms.

Construction for 2 Murray Road started in 2019 and once completed it will be Zaha Hadid Architects' second project in the city, along with the 78-metre-high Jockey Club Innovation Tower on the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus, which opened in 2014.