Macau Tower

Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre
澳門旅遊塔會展娛樂中心
Centro de Convenções e Entretenimento da Torre de Macau

View underneath Macau Tower showing the outer rim.
General information
Type Communications, mixed use
Location Sé, Macau, China
Coordinates 22°10′47″N 113°32′12″E / 22.17972°N 113.53667°E / 22.17972; 113.53667Coordinates: 22°10′47″N 113°32′12″E / 22.17972°N 113.53667°E / 22.17972; 113.53667
Construction started 1998
Completed 2001
Opening December 19, 2001
Owner Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S.A.R.L. (STDM)
Management Shun Holdings
Height
Antenna spire 338 m (1,108.9 ft)
Top floor 223 m (731.6 ft)
Design and construction
Architect Craig Craig Moller Ltd.
Structural engineer Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd.

Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre (Chinese: 澳門旅遊塔會展娛樂中心; Portuguese: Centro de Convenções e Entretenimento da Torre de Macau), also known as Macau Tower, is a tower located in Sé, Macau, China. The tower measures 338 m (1,109 ft) in height from ground level to the highest point. An observation deck with panoramic views, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and the Skywalk X, a thrilling walking tour around the outer rim. It offers the best view of Macau and in recent years has been used for a variety of adventurous activities. At 233 meters, the Macau Tower's tethered "skyjump" and Bungee jump by AJ Hackett[1] from the tower's outer rim, is the highest commercial skyjump in the world (233 meters), and the second highest commercial decelerator descent facility in the world, after Vegas' Stratosphere skyjump at 252 meters.[2] The tower was created by the architecture firm of Craig Craig Moller.

The tower is one of the members of the World Federation of Great Towers. Besides being used for observation and entertainment, the tower is also used for telecommunications and broadcasting.

History

Macau Tower

On a visit to Auckland, New Zealand, Hong Kong casino billionaire Stanley Ho Hung-Sun was so impressed by the Sky Tower in Auckland that he commissioned a similar one to be built in Macau. The tower was designed by New Zealand engineering firm Beca Group and Gordon Moller of Craig Craig Moller architects for Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. Construction work of the tower started in 1998, and the tower was officially opened on December 19, 2001.

Project team

Project Architect: Les Dykstra[3] [4]

61°F Outdoor Observation Deck
58°F Observation Deck
The Macau Tower Entertainment & Convention Centre also houses several stores and a movie theatre.

Events

On December 17, 2006, the father of contemporary bungee jumping, A J Hackett, and popular artist Edison Chen broke two Guinness World Records at the Macau Tower. A J Hackett, broke his own Guinness World Record of "The Highest Bungee Jump from a Building" achieved in 1987 from the Eiffel Tower. Edison Chen represented Macau Tower in the inaugural jump to bid for "The World's Highest Bungee Jump Facility".[5]

Jack Osbourne has bungee-jumped off the tower as well, as part of the third series of Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie.

Anthony Bourdain bungee-jumped from the top floor of the building in an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

It served as the venue of photoshoot of Episode 10, America's Next Top Model Cycle 18: British Invasion.

The tower was featured in the third episode of An Idiot Abroad 3, where Karl Pilkington and Warwick Davis perform the Skywalk which involves walking around the perimeter of one of the highest floors. Davis then proceeded to take a controlled descent to the ground.

It was used on the South Korean variety show Running Man for episode 133. The cast (not including Kim Jongkook) and their guests, Lee Dong-wook and Han Hye-jin, were given three missions - sky jump, mast climb, and sky walk - to be completed on the tower to acquire the three characters they needed to continue onto the next mission.

The tower was also used as a "roadblock" in an episode of US version The Amazing Race: All-Stars that originally aired on April 22, 2007, on CBS as well as a roadblock in the Amazing Race Canada 2 in 2014. The tower also appeared in one roadblock each on two episodes of The Amazing Race Asia 3.

It was also used on the Chinese variety show Up Idol (season 2) for episode 1. The two team captains, Wang Han and Yuan Hong, with their members, were given a mission - sky relay - to be completed on the tower as short a time as possible. Finally, Yuan Hong's team won the game, and Wang Han's team was given a punishment, Karen Mok and Ming Xi were going to bungee-jump off the tover. Xie Na and Joe Chen replaced them to accept the punishment at last.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Macau Tower bungy AJ Hackett - Official Website". S181386383.websitehome.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
  2. ↑ http://d2br62l25pxkcl.cloudfront.net/Media/PDFs/SkyJump_FactSheet.pdf
  3. ↑ Les Dykstra is now Director of Architects-ldl
  4. ↑ "Aqua House", Editorial Review by Tony van Raat
  5. ↑ "Breaking Two Guinness World Records". Macau Tower - Press. Archived from the original on 2007-08-04. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
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