Ušće Tower (Belgrade)

 office building, skyscraper, modernism, Modern (architecture)

Ušće Tower (Serbian Cyrillic: Ушће, meaning "confluence") is the tallest skyscraper in Belgrade, and the second-tallest building overall, after the Avala tower. The glass building stands at 141 metres (27 floors) and is located in Blok 16 of Novi Beograd municipality, near the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. Hypo Alpe Adria bank is now renting out the first ten floors of the building and has become the anchor tenant. This bank also has a light-ad on the building roof.

Ušće Tower was built in 1964 to serve as headquarters of the Central Committee of the League of Communists in the former Yugoslavia. The original building was 105 m tall. Even today many people still call it CeKa which is the acronym for Centralni Komitet. On April 21, 1999 NATO airstrikes hit the building, setting the upper floors on fire. Several days later NATO repeated the attack. In total 12 Tomahawk missiles were fired at this building.

Reconstruction work on the building started in early 2003 and was carried out by European Construction. The reconstruction was completed in 2005 while the official opening took place in July that year. The multi million-dollar project has 25 stories, totaling around 25,000 square meters of office space. An observation deck, fitness area and cafe are located on the last level of the building. The building was originally supposed to be 105 metres however a late change occurred during the construction and the building was built another 30 metres up. The facade got a new look and it's all glass now.

The Ušće complex when completed in the following three years will become one of the most modern and elite business centres in the Balkans. A second twin building will be built by 2008 and a multifunctional office-commercial-sports centre will be built. The net lettable area in the complex will be 180000 square metres and the construction will cost 160 million Euros. Underground there will be a hypermarket with over 12000 square metres. There will also be one underground floor of the shopping mall, while the remaining two floors of the mall will be above ground. The shopping mall will have a total commercial space area of 36000 square metres and will feature cafes, restaurants, boutiques, stores, furniture stores, banks, and pharmacies. The third part of the complex will have a multiplex theatre and sports recreation centre.