Tuntex Sky Tower, or the T & C Tower , 85 SKYTOWER (the Tuntex & Chien-Tai Tower), is a 85-floor skyscraper located in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Situated in the downtown Ling Ya district the structure is 347 m (1140 feet) high. 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 sections, these merge into a single central tower rising to a spire. This unique design leaves a substantial space below the central part of the tower. The design was inspired by the Chinese character Kao (or Gao 高), meaning "tall," and also the first character in the city's 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 70th 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 designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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