Thai Boon Roong Twin Tower World Trade Center
Planned skyscraper in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Thai Boon Roong Twin Tower World Trade Center[1][note 1] is a planned skyscraper complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, consisting of twin 133-storey skyscrapers with a height of 567 m (1,860 ft),[3] surrounded by four commercial towers:[4] two at 65 floors and two at 59 floors.[1] The project is managed by the Cambodian company Thai Boon Roong Group, with the Macau-based Sun Kian Ip Group as co-developer.[5][6] It is planned to be built on a 5 hectare property in the Doun Penh section, formerly occupied by the Dreamland amusement park,[4][7] and was approved for construction in February 2016.[8][9] In December of that year, the developers entered a $2.7 billion construction contract (pending funding which at the time was yet to be finalised) with Chinese firms Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group and Sino Great Wall International Engineering, who formed a joint venture for this purpose;[4][10][11] at this time, the building's announced height was 560 m (1,840 ft).[4]
| Thai Boon Roong Twin Tower World Trade Center | |
|---|---|
 Interactive map of the Thai Boon Roong Twin Tower World Trade Center area | |
General information | |
| Status | Proposed |
| Type | Mixed-Use |
| Location | Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Coordinates | 11°33′27″N 104°56′12″E |
| Height | |
| Height | Twin towers: 567 m (1,860 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count |
|
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Tous Saphoeun |
| Developer | Thai Boon Roong Group Sun Kian Ip Group |
Described since then as what would be Southeast Asia's tallest building,[3][12][note 2] if built, the twin skyscrapers would be the second tallest buildings in the region—after Merdeka 118, which is nearing completion in 2023 and has a height of 678.9 m (2,227 ft). Upon completion, the Thai Boon Roong Twin Towers would surpass the Petronas Towers as the world's tallest twin skyscraper (as of 2023[14]).
Construction and halt
In mid-2017, 1 August 2017 was set as the date of the start of construction.[15] Since then, construction has been delayed multiple times.[16][4][17] A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site in 2018,[18] however, later that year, Sino Great Wall International Engineering withdrew from the project due to a failure to secure financing, and citing "greater uncontrollable risks."[19][20]
In 2021, the Thai Boon Roong Group suggested that they were "waiting for the right time" and expected to restart construction after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, and that the plan had not changed.[21]
As of 2022, the project has been "failing to materialize", according to Southeast Asia Globe,[22] and, as of 2023, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat website lists the project's status as "proposed".[1] In 2021 and 2022, the company has cited the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and that of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as reasons for the delay, and reported that a retaining wall had been completed.[3][23]
See also
- Hotel Cambodiana, lying next to Thai Boon Roong Twin Trade Center construction site, and announced as the site of another Phnom Penh skyscraper[24]
- List of tallest twin buildings and structures
- List of tallest buildings in Cambodia
- Naga 3, a similar on-hold complex in the same city, also of a 'twin tower with smaller surrounding skyscrapers' configuration.
Notes
- At the time of the project's unveiling, when the twin skyscraper's planned height was 500 m (1,600 ft), it was envisioned as the second-tallest building in Southeast Asia, behind the 555 m (1,821 ft) Diamond Tower project,[5] which had been announced by the prime minister of Cambodia Hun Sen in 2010, but which has not entered construction as of 2023.[13]