Neatt Opens for Business
The long-awaited Northeast Asia Trade Tower (NEATT) in Songdo International Business District, Incheon has opened for business. The KPF and Heerim Architects & Planners-designed structure topped out in 2009 however financial complications are said to have delayed the completion of the 308m-high tower. The mixed-use building looks to ‘symbolise and embody the tenants of an international business hub in a free-trade zone’.
The external shape of the building references its internal workings, with the tapering form reflecting the changing programmatic needs of the interior. In the lower section of the NEATT tower are 26 floors of office accommodation requiring large floor plates. As the building rises, these floors plates reduce in size as they are replaced by 15 storeys of hotel facilities and 21 floors of residences. At the very top of the building is a heliport, situated just above a skylounge with far-reaching views across the city of Incheon, the Yellow Sea and the nearby mountains. The 68-storey NEATT Tower currently holds the title of the tallest building in South Korea and is situated in New Songdo City, a 607-hectare masterplanned development on the waterfront.
The highly reflective tower features high-performance glazing coupled with exterior shading devices to limit solar heat gain and reduce cooling loads. The building purchases hot water from a new cogeneration facility which creates hot water from waste heat recovered during the electricity generation process. It also incorporates low-flow plumbing fixtures, a graywater collection system, and large storage tanks which collect stormwater for site irrigation.
KPF