25 Martin Place (formerly and still commonly known as the MLC Centre) is a
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Originally named the "MLC Centre" after
MLC Limited, and still commonly referred to by that name, in 2021 the name was removed by its owner, Dexus, which now refers to the building simply by its street address of 25
Martin Place
Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney. .
Design and construction
The building's construction was controversial, since it brought about the demolition in 1971-2 of the famous 19th century
Australia Hotel
The Australia Hotel was a hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney, Australia. From its opening in 1891 until its closure on 30 June 1971 and subsequent demolition, the hotel was considered "the best-known hotel in Australia", "the premier hotel in S ...
, the
Theatre Royal, and the splendid Commercial Travellers Club building on the corner of
Martin Place
Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney. , all of which formerly stood on the site.
Designed by architect
Harry Seidler, it stands at a height of 228 metres (748 ft) with 67 storeys,
and remains one of his most definitive works. The building was awarded the
Sir John Sulman Medal by the
Australian Institute of Architects
The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...
.
The contractor was
Civil & Civic
Civil & Civic was an Australian construction company. Founded in 1951, it was acquired in 1961 by Lend Lease Corporation.
History
Civil & Civic was founded by Dick Dusseldorp in 1951 on behalf of Dutch building companies Bredero's Bouwbedrijf ...
. It was officially opened by the
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
,
Sir Zelman Cowen
Sir Zelman Cowen, (7 October 1919 – 8 December 2011) was an Australian legal scholar and university administrator who served as the 19th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1977 to 1982.
Cowen was born in Melbourne, and attended ...
, in September 1978.
[
]
Location and features
The building is a stark white, modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
column in an octagonal floorplan, with eight massive load-bearing columns in the corners that taper slightly towards the top. It is one of the world's tallest reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
buildings and was one of the tallest buildings in the world outside North America at the time of its completion. The MLC Centre was Sydney's tallest office building from 1977 to 1992. The MLC Centre is wholly owned by Dexus, which acquired a half-stake in the property from the Queensland Investment Corporation
QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation) is a Government owned investment company owned by the Queensland Government. It was founded on 1 July 1991 pursuant to the ''Queensland Investment Corporation Act 1991'' to serve the long-term investment ...
in June 2017 and bought out its former co-owner, the GPT Group
The GPT Group is a Real Estate Investment Trust (also known as an Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Secu ...
, in March 2019. The MLC Centre was also Australia's tallest building for nine years until losing the title to the Rialto Towers
Rialto (often The Rialto, or Rialto Towers) is a skyscraper located at 525 Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins Street, in the western side of the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was the tallest office building in the ...
in Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
in 1986.
Occupants include the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney (TECO), Cognizant
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational information technology consulting and outsourcing company originally founded in India. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Co ...
, Servcorp, and former Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
, John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
. The podium of the building includes a shopping centre and a 1,186-seat theatre, the Theatre Royal.
The building underwent a $100m repair project which installed hybrid corrosion protection to the facade. The project retained the original appearance of the structure but remedied damage to exposed aggregate precast concrete facade panels caused by expansive corrosion of steel reinforcement. In June 2021, it was rebranded from the MLC Centre to 25 Martin Place.MLC Centre, Sydney gets a new name as part of a $170m transformation
''Shopping Centre News'' 3 June 2021
In popular culture
The building was the headquarters of the fictitious "Harper Mining" company in the opulent 1980's television soap opera ''
Return to Eden''.
The building was the centre of the storyline in the first episode of the Australian television drama, ''
Police Rescue
''Police Rescue'' is an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV (Australian TV channel), ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC and Southern Star Entertainment, Southern ...
'', airing in 1991. Sergeant Steve "Mickey" McClintock (
Gary Sweet
Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), ''Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody (TV series), Cody'' (as Cody), ''Big Sky (Australian ...
) is seen abseiling off the top of the building in the first half of the episode to persuade a man threatening to commit suicide not to jump.
Gallery
File:MLC Centre in Sydney.jpg, View from Sydney Tower
File:Artistic sketch of The Australia Hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney, published in the Sydney Harbour Bridge opening programme, 19 March 1932.jpg, The Australia Hotel, 1932, demolished to make way for the MLC Centre.
File:View of Martin Place from Castlereagh St, Sydney (NSW) (7417190710) (2).jpg, Martin Place
Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney. in the early 1950s. The building on the corner to the left is the Commercial Travellers Club Building and the 'modern' (c. 1930) twin-wings of the Australia Hotel next to it were demolished in 1971–1972 to make way for the MLC Centre.
File:MLC Centre Podium 2017.jpg, Podium area
File:MLC Centre on Martin Place.jpg, Commercial Travellers' Association building
See also
*
List of tallest buildings in Sydney
Sydney, the largest city in Australia, is home to 1,168 completed high-rise buildings, more than any other city in Australia. Of those completed or topped out, the entire city (including metropolitan suburbs) has 56 buildings that reach a height ...
*
Architecture of Sydney
References
External links
Official site
{{Architecture of Sydney , state=autocollapse
Harry Seidler buildings
Skyscraper office buildings in Sydney
Retail buildings in New South Wales
Office buildings completed in 1977
Buildings and structures awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal
Martin Place
King Street, Sydney