HSBC Tower, Mexico City
Encyclopedia
HSBC Tower is a skyscraper
located on Paseo de la Reforma
in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc
, Mexico City
, Mexico
, which is the headquarters of HSBC Mexico
. It is located opposite the Angel of Independence, and is home to the around 2,800 HSBC Mexico staff. Construction was completed in 2006, at a cost of around US$
150 million. There are 23 office floors and 12 parking levels in the 136 metres (446.2 ft) high tower, which is one of the tallest in Mexico City.
The HSBC Tower is the first of its type of environmentally friendly buildings in Latin America
. It was the first in Latin America to be given LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
) gold certification from the US Green Building Council.
Vicente Fox Quesada
, the President's wife Marta Sahagún
, Secretary of Finance Francisco Gil Diaz
, Banco de México
Guillermo Ortiz Martínez, HSBC Mexico CEO Sandy Flockhart
, HSBC Group Chief Executive Stephen Green
, HSBC Group Chairman Sir John Bond
and Deputy Chairman and senior non-executive Director Baroness Dunn
.
lion
s guarding the main entrance. These are copies of those which have stood outside the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building
at 1 Queen's Road Central since 1935.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located on Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma is a wide avenue that runs in a straight line, cutting diagonally across Mexico City. It was designed by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig in the 1860s and modeled after the great boulevards of Europe, such as Vienna's Ringstrasse or the Champs-Élysées in Paris...
in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc, D.F.
Cuauhtémoc, named after the former Aztec leader, is one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal district of Mexico City. It consists of the oldest parts of the city, extending over what was the entire city in the 1920s. This area is the historic and culture center of the city, although it is not the...
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, which is the headquarters of HSBC Mexico
HSBC Mexico
HSBC Mexico, S.A., the principal operating company of Group Financiero HSBC, S.A. de C.V., is one of Mexico’s four largest banking and financial service companies, with 1,400 branches and 5,200 ATMs. HSBC purchased Banco Internacional, S.A...
. It is located opposite the Angel of Independence, and is home to the around 2,800 HSBC Mexico staff. Construction was completed in 2006, at a cost of around US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
150 million. There are 23 office floors and 12 parking levels in the 136 metres (446.2 ft) high tower, which is one of the tallest in Mexico City.
The HSBC Tower is the first of its type of environmentally friendly buildings in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. It was the first in Latin America to be given LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
) gold certification from the US Green Building Council.
Opening
The inauguration of the new head office took place on 5 April 2006, attended by President of MexicoPresident of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Vicente Fox Quesada
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
, the President's wife Marta Sahagún
Marta Sahagún
Marta Sahagún de Fox became the First Lady of Mexico on July 2, 2001, when she married President Vicente Fox Quesada....
, Secretary of Finance Francisco Gil Diaz
Francisco Gil Díaz
Francisco Gil Díaz is a Mexican economist who served as Secretary of Finance in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox and currently serves as regional chairman of Telefónica for Mexico and Central America....
, Banco de México
Banco de México
The Bank of Mexico , abbreviated BdeM or Banxico, is Mexico's central bank and lender of last resort. The Bank of Mexico is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to achieve stability in the purchasing power of the national currency.On December 15, 2009, Agustín Carstens...
Guillermo Ortiz Martínez, HSBC Mexico CEO Sandy Flockhart
Sandy Flockhart
Alexander Andrew Flockhart CBE is the CEO of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited....
, HSBC Group Chief Executive Stephen Green
Stephen Green (banker)
Stephen Keith Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint is a British Conservative politician the current Minister of State for Trade and Investment and former Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc...
, HSBC Group Chairman Sir John Bond
John Bond (banker)
Sir John Reginald Hartnell Bond retired as chairman of HSBC Holdings plc on 26 May 2006, after spending 45 years with the bank. He took up the position of Chairman of Vodafone in July 2006....
and Deputy Chairman and senior non-executive Director Baroness Dunn
Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn
Lydia Selina Dunn, Baroness Dunn, DBE, JP was the Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council in Hong Kong in 1985-1988 and 1988-1995, after Rogerio Hyndman Lobo and Chung Sze Yuen respectively...
.
Notable features
HSBC's environmental principles mean that the building has been designed from the start to include the best available technology to reduce the consumption of water and electricity, including low consumption bathroom furniture, waterless urinals, rain collection, water treatment plant and efficient use of non-drinkable water. HSBC claim that the building will consume 55% less water and 40% less energy than comparable structures.Credit Transforms to Mexico
Credit Transforms to Mexico is a mural which was unveiled by President Fox and Sandy Flockhart in the reception area of the building.Stephen and Stitt
In common with other HSBC head office buildings, the HSBC Tower has a pair of bronzeBronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s guarding the main entrance. These are copies of those which have stood outside the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building
HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building
The HSBC Main Building is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in Central, Hong Kong. It is located along the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong . The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down...
at 1 Queen's Road Central since 1935.
See also
- HSBCHSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
- A list of other towers named HSBC Tower