Dragon's back, a muse for a Cambodian tower

The well-known architecture firm TFP Farrells has taken the wraps off a 38-storey banking head-quarters in Phnom Penh, which is now Cambodia’s tallest skyscraper.

The 183.8-metre Vattanac Capital Tower features offices, trading floors, apartments, a sky garden, restaurant and a ‘cantilevered entertainment pod’. A podium structure contains a three-storey retail complex. The Monyvong Boulevard landmark is the first Grade-A office building in Cambodia and has become the new headquarters for Vattanac Bank. It is located in the capital city’s emerging business and financial district on a key north-south route.

The curving design was inspired by a dragon’s back, which is a local symbol of good luck and wealth. The tower began accepting ‘beta tenants’ on the first and second floors earlier in 2014, but only recently opened all floors for occupancy.