63 Building

63 Building
General information
Location	Yeoui Island, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul South Korea
Coordinates	37°31′11″N 126°56′24″E / 37.51972°N 126.94000°E / 37.51972; 126.94000
Opened	July 27, 1985
Owner	Hanwha Group (Hanwha 63 City Corp.)
Height
Antenna spire	274 m (899 ft)
Roof	249.6 m (819 ft)[1]
Top floor	240 m (790 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	63 (3 underground)
Floor area	166,207 m (545,299 ft)[2]
Lifts/elevators	37, by Hitachi/GoldStar (modernized by Mitsubishi Electric)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Harry D. Som and Helen W. Som, Som and Associates, ChunMyeong Park
Website
http://www.63realty.co.kr/

The 63 Building (Korean: 63빌딩; RR: Yuksam Bilding), officially called 63 SQUARE^[3] (formerly Hanwha 63 City), is a skyscraper on the island of Yeouido, overlooking the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. At 249.6 m (819 ft) high, it was the tallest building outside North America when it was opened on July 27, 1985, and it is the second-tallest gold-clad building in the world after Grand Lisboa in Macau. It stood as South Korea's tallest building until the Hyperion Tower surpassed it in 2003, but remained the country's tallest commercial building until the Northeast Asia Trade Tower was topped-out in 2009.^[4]

The 63 Building was built as a landmark for the 1988 Summer Olympics. 63 is something of a misnomer since only 60 floors are above ground level. Floors 61–63 are restricted areas. The skyscraper is the headquarters of Korea Life Insurance, Industrial Bank of Korea Securities, and other major financial companies.

The design of the structure is based on the Hanja character for person or human being (人 or in) in a subtle reference by the designers to the business of Daehan Life, the insurance company that constructed the building.