63 Building

The 63 Building (Korean: 63 빌딩 or 육삼 빌딩), officially the Hanhwa 63 City, is a skyscraper on Yeouido island, overlooking the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It was designed by the American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). At 250 meters (819 ft) high, it was the tallest building outside North America when it opened in July 1985, and remains the tallest gold-clad structure in the world. 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.

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.

History

The 63 Building's construction broke ground in February 1980, at the height of South Korea's economic boom. It was built at a cost of 180,000,000,000 won and completed construction on May 1985. The building was originally named the DLI 63 building, for Daehan Life Insurance. In 2000, Hanwha Group renamed the building 63 City and it became part of the group in 2002.