Australia Square
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Australia Square Tower is an office and retail skyscraper in the
Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...
, Australia. Its main address is 264 George Street, and the square is bounded on the northern side by Bond Street, eastern side by
Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...
and southern side by Curtin Place.


Description and history

The building was first conceived in 1961, and its final design by Harry Seidler & Associates was in 1964 after collaboration with structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. Today, it remains a landmark building in Sydney and is regarded as iconic to Australian architecture. It has even been described as the most beautiful building in Australia, though it is not without criticism. The outstanding feature of the square is the Tower Building; from its completion in 1967 until 1976 it was the tallest building in Sydney. Originally owned by Lendlease, in 1981 it was sold to GPT. It is jointly owned by GPT and Dexus. During the mid-1990s the building was completely refurbished. Another $11 million refurbishment program, which included replacing all paving in public areas with Italian porphyry paving stone, new lighting and outdoor tables was conducted in 2003.


The Tower


Design

Australia Square was constructed shortly after height restrictions were lifted in the city of Sydney and at a time when small sites, including blocks created by laneways, were being consolidated into larger blocks to accommodate high-rise office towers. It was the world's tallest lightweight concrete building at the time it was built. The Tower Building is approximately tall and occupies only one quarter of the block. The circular plan of the main tower allowed Seidler to minimise what he called "the dark canyon effect", an approach further helped by setting the tower back from the street. The original proposal included 58 floors; however, this was reduced to 50. On the 47th floor is a
revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is a tower restaurant designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving wikt:platform, platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the rev ...
called The Summit and the 48th floor houses an
observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...
. The building contains one of Sydney's largest basement car parks with spaces for 400 vehicles. The major tenants of the Tower include
Origin Energy Origin Energy Ltd is an ASX listed public company with headquarters in Sydney. It is a major integrated electricity generator, and electricity and natural gas retailer. It operates Eraring Power Station, Australia's largest coal-fired power ...
and HWL Ebsworth. The major tenant was Lendlease until March 2004. With a height of , Australia Square also holds the distinction of being Australia's first modern
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 ...
(a building which exceeds the height of ) as designated by the
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and Sustainable design, sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in ...
.


Construction

The project was instigated by Dick Dusseldorp, the founder of
Lendlease Lendlease is an Australian multinational construction and real estate company, headquartered in Barangaroo, Sydney, New South Wales. History Founding The company was established as Lendlease by Dick Dusseldorp in 1958 to provide finance fo ...
. The city block which is now Australia Square is approximately in area, and formerly held some 30 properties and buildings. Australia Square was constructed by
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 ...
. Construction, starting with demolition of the old buildings, began in 1961. The finished tower is 50 storeys tall with most of these available for commercial tenants, a total of . The tower is constructed of lightweight concrete, with 20 projecting vertical columns tapering to the summit and supporting a combination of interlocking rib-structured reinforcement and radial support beams. The tower is in diameter, with a central core of diameter. The core contains elevator shafts, emergency stairwells and service conduits. Each floor is donut shaped, with a clear span of to the perimeter windows and a total area of each. Construction time for each floor was five working days—a new standard in office tower construction.


Other features

Facing
Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...
is the 13-storey Plaza Building, a comparatively simple rectangular office building (designed 1961, construction started 1962, completed 1964). The Plaza Building was devised to be completed and generate rental income while the round tower was being constructed. Alongside the Tower Building sits a large abstract steel sculpture by
Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...
. There is also a sculpture by Seward Johnson Jr, ''Waiting''. The tower ground floor lobby had tapestries by
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
and
Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...
on display; however, due to fading, those pieces were removed and replaced in 2003 with a
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
by
Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...
. The former Lendlease executive floor in the tower also had many artworks specified by Harry Seidler: the reception area displayed a sculpture by Norman Carlberg and tapestries by
John Olsen John Wayne Olsen AO (born 7 June 1945) is an Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, Chairma ...
and
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
, the executive floor suites also had a tapestry by Miro and artwork by Alexander Calder. Extensive public open space, including fountains, is a feature of the Square. This design feature is an early example of including a public open space on private land. There are numerous entrances to the retail precincts in the lower ground level of the Tower, which include a post office and food outlets. The retail target is the office worker on a lunch break, and the open-plan design and ease of access have been styled accordingly.


Surpassing of height

The Australia Square Tower building was the tallest building in Sydney for nine years. In 1976, the south building of the AMP Centre was opened at , although having only 45 storeys and no public observation deck.


Architecture awards

The building won the Sir John Sulman Medal for its innovative and appealing design in 1967. Australia Square was awarded the 2012 New South Wales Enduring Architecture Award followed later that year with the 2012 National Award for Enduring Architecture awarded 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 ...
.


References


External links


Australia Square Online
* {{Authority control 1967 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal Buildings and structures with revolving restaurants Harry Seidler buildings Pier Luigi Nervi buildings Modernist architecture in Australia Office buildings completed in 1967 Retail buildings in New South Wales Skyscraper office buildings in Sydney Sydney central business district