Lotte World Tower

Sabrina Gradolf editor (Switzerland)

Lotte World Tower

After 13 years of planning and site preparation, the tower gained final approval to start construction by the government in November 2010 and the first groundbreaking activities of piling and frame assembly were observed at the construction site in March.

On New Year Eve of 2016, the LED-pixels of the facade displayed the number "2016". On April 3rd, 2017, Lotte shot off fireworks to celebrate the tower's official opening. On January 1st, 2018, Lotte shot off fireworks with a LED laser show for 7 minutes to celebrate New Year's Day and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Height

On March 17th, 2016, before the final phase of external construction, the Diagrid lantern-shaped roof structure was completed. The roof structure was constructed with steel counterparts that are each 12 meters and weigh 20 tons. The counterparts were made up of bent metal panels that are 6 cm thick. The structure itself is 120 meters high and covers floors 107–123. Approximately 3,000 tons of steel parts, a high precision 64t tower crane and GPS alignment systems, as well as highly skilled welding technicians, were used in the construction of the roof. The roof structure is engineered to withstand its weight without reinforcing pillars, endure earthquakes up to a magnitude of 9 under the Richter magnitude scale, and winds up to 80 m/s. It is also the 5th largest building in the world.

Landmark

Lotte World Tower is a landmark of Seoul and the first 100-story building in Korea. When it was completed, it was the fourth-highest tower in the world and the highest in the OECD countries. The conceptual design calls for a slender cone with convex, gently curved sides. An exterior of pale-colored glass draws inspiration from Korean ceramics and features accents of metal filigree.

Main facilities

Seoul Sky is located on the 117th - 123rd floors. The 117th floor is the entrance floor and the view floor; the 118th floor has the Sky Friendly Cafe and Sky Terrace. The photo zone is located on the 119th floor, Seoul Sky Cafe on the 122nd floor, and the 123 lounge, a premium lounge bar, on the 123rd floor. There are four media stands on the 117th and 118th floors. The view floor has prominent views of the city, as well as a glass floor and a telescope. The skylight of Seoul Sky was the highest glass floor observatory as of the tower's completion. Lotte Tower and One World Trade Center have concluded an operation and technical service agreement.

Safety issues

In 2013 and 2014, 3 construction workers died during the construction of the tower, and an executive director of Lotte's construction arm was given a suspended sentence of 8 months in prison in 2016 for his role in neglecting safety measures at the site. In December 2014, the Seoul city government ordered the mall and cinema complex at the base of the tower, which opened before completion of the tower, to be closed for 5 months after water was found leaking from an internal aquarium. Independent engineers who assessed the building found that these issues bore little relation to the overall structural integrity of the building and the mall and cinema complex reopened in 2015.

Urban exploration

In 2016, two Russian and Ukrainian urban explorers, Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov from Ontheroofs, illegally climbed the under-construction Lotte World Tower through stairs and Vitaly Raskalov then free-climbed up the crane on the tower's top. The video was viewed over 3 million times as of September 2016 and received worldwide media attention. Following the climb, Lotte World Tower released posters with the photos of Vitaly Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov and banned them from the building.