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CNN Staff
2 minute read
Updated 5:46 AM EST, Tue November 26, 2013
Bank of America Tower (New York) —
Architects: Cook + Fox Architects, LLP; Adamson Associates.
The Bank of America Tower is named after the largest bank in the U.S.A.
The skyscraper was officially the second-tallest building in New York until the topping-out of One World Trade Center in May 2013.
Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong) —
Architects: I.M. Pei & Partners; Shermann Kung & Associates Architects Limited.
This tower houses the headquarters of the Bank of China Hong Kong.
According to the architect Ieoh Ming Pei, the shape of a bamboo stalk served as inspiration for the design.
European Investment Bank (Luxembourg) —
Architect: Ingenhoven Architects.
Located in Luxembourg, the building is the headquarters of the European Investment Bank.
The V-shaped offices, which are linked with one another by atriums and winter gardens, are fully spanned with glass.
Isbank Tower (Istanbul, Turkey) —
Architects: Swanke Hayden Connell Architects; Tekeli & Sisa.
At 181 meters in height, it was the tallest building in Turkey until 2012.
Several details of the facade are reminiscent of Trump Tower in New York City, which was also designed by the architects Swanke Hayden.
Islamic Development Bank (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) —
Architect: Nikken Sekkei Ltd.
The two towers of the Islamic Development Bank Headquarters in Jeddah are connected by a roof structure.
The building, which is over 100 meters tall, has a sophisticated design: narrow window slits in the outer walls serve to block the strong sunlight while the central patios are covered in glass in order to let in natural light.
Macquarie Bank Centre (Sydney) —
Architect: Fitzpatrick + Partners.
Macquarie Bank is headquartered in Sydney, and is Australia's only major bank.
A particularly eye-catching aspect of Macquarie Bank Centre is the white lattice structure that sits like a net around the glass cube. A total of 1,000 tonnes of steel girder were used in construction of the building.
National Bank of Dubai (Dubai, U.A.E.) —
Architects: Norr Group Consultants Int. Ltd.; Carlos Ott Architect.
The building houses the Emirates National Bank of Dubai, considered one of the leading banks in the United Arab Emirates.
The shape of the building is reminiscent of a sail, a concept also used in Dubai in the luxury hotel Burj Al Arab.
ING House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) —
Architect: Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten.
ING House is headquarters to the global financial house ING Group.
Due to its unusual shape, the building also has the nicknames "shoe" and "dustbuster."
One Churchill Place (London) —
Architect: HOK International Ltd.
One Churchill Place in London is headquarters to Barclays Bank, the third-largest bank in the UK.
The 156-meter-tall building was the sixth-tallest in London at the time of completion, and is currently the 12th tallest.
Saxo Bank International HQ (Hellerup, Denmark) —
Architect: 3XN Architects.
The Saxo Bank International Headquarters is home to the Danish online investment bank Saxo Bank. Its expressive design makes it clearly stand out from its surroundings.
The slanting and irregularly ordered blocks of color on the facade look like the stripes of a zebra.
Scotia Plaza (Toronto, Canada) —
Architect: WZMH Architects.
Scotia Plaza is currently Toronto's second-tallest multi-story building after First Canadian Place. It serves as headquarters to Scotiabank.
In addition to this modern 68-story building, the same complex also contains the bank's historic main building, which has heritage status, at 44 King Street West.
World's most beautiful bank buildings
Story highlights
Bank of America Tower was officially the second-tallest building in New York until One World Trade Center topped out in May 2013
Bank of China Tower inspired by the shape of a bamboo stalk
Islamic Development Bank has narrow window slits to block sunlight while central patios are covered in glass to let in natural light
CNN —
It should be no surprise that the world’s financial behemoths also own or inhabit some of the best real estate.
With One World Trade Center officially being declared the highest building in the United States, and the iconic Midland Bank Building in London being turned into a hotel, building data company Emporis of Hamburg, Germany, has pulled together what it thinks are 12 of the most “spectacular” buildings in the banking industry.
“One of the most singular bank buildings is undoubtedly the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, the first building outside the United States to break the 1,000-foot mark and, even today, one of the world’s tallest corporate headquarters,” said an Emporis spokesperson.
Click to expand
Others in its list include the Macquarie Bank Centre in Sydney with a “sophisticated interior design … [that] does entirely without loadbearing columns and provides light-flooded, colorful workspaces” and the Bank of America Tower in New York, which cost a billion dollars and is “one of the most eye-catching in this city.”
The report notes that even the recent financial crisis did not entirely kill banks’ desires to build extravagantly.
“As recently as 2009, the Co-Op Bank, Cyprus, moved into an exclusive new designer building,” the report says, also citing BBVA, Spain’s second-largest bank, which is building a new headquarters with an immodest circular design by architects Herzog & de Meuron.
More: 10 of the world’s ‘blobbiest’ buildings
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