Australia Square
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Australia Square is an office and retail complex in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. Located at 151°12'30"E 33°52'S, its address is 264 George Street and the Square is bounded on the northern side by Bond Street, eastern side by Pitt Street and southern side by Curtin Place. The outstanding feature of the Square is the Tower Building which from its completion in 1967 until 1976 was the tallest building in Sydney.
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[edit] The Tower
Officially named the Tower Building, the iconic circular tower of Australia Square was Australia's first true skyscraper.
[edit] History
Prior to the Australia Square tower, there were no office towers in Sydney. The tallest structure was the 1939 AWA Tower, a radio transmission tower atop a 15-storey building located at the corner of Erskine Street and York Street just over 300 metres to the southwest. (The summit of the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is higher than the AWA Tower, but lower than the Australia Square Tower Building).
This lack of height in Sydney - a stark contrast to the trend of American cities - was maintained for many years due mainly to safety concerns. Culwalla Chambers, a brick building completed in 1912 at 50 metres in height, remained the tallest office building for many years. It's construction provoked a regulation limiting the height of buildings to 45 metres, a regulation which stayed in force until the 1960s. (The pylons at each end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge are taller). [1] The AMP Building, a metal-framed office tower facing Circular Quay, was the first to break this height barrier in 1961.
The main driving force behind the development of Australia Square was the Lend Lease Corporation headed by Gérard Joseph "Dik" Dusseldorp, a Dutch immigrant who arrived in Australia in the 1950s from Indonesia. Dusseldorp engaged renowned architecht Harry Seidler and secured government approval for the project.
[edit] Construction
The city block which is now Australia Square is approximately 5500 square metres in area, and formerly held some 30 properties and buildings. Construction, starting with demolition of the old buildings, began in 1961.
The tower is constructed of light weight concrete, with 20 projecting vertical columns tapering to the summit and supporting a combinaton of interlocking rib-structured reinforcement and radial support beams. The tower is 42 metres in diameter, with a central core of 20 metres diameter. The core contains elevator shafts, emergency stairwells and service conduits. Each floor is donut with a clear span of 11 metres to the perimeter windows.
The finished tower is 50 storeys tall with most of these available for commercial tenants, a total of 40900 square metres.
[edit] The Summit
The Summit is a revolving restaurant on the 47th floor of the tower. It was the highest restaurant in Sydney until Sydney Tower and its restaurants opened in 1981, and since the 1980s has lost much of its attraction as taller buildings have blocked the view.
[edit] Taller Buildings in Sydney
The Australia Square Tower Building held its Sydney height record only for nine years. In 1976 the south building of the AMP Centre was opened at 188 metres, although having only 45 storeys and no public observation deck. The following year, the MLC Centre came in at 228 metres and 60 storeys, and it remains the tallest office building in Sydney. Sydney Tower, including its spire, is 305 metres tall (the observation decks are around 250 metres). Right across George Street from Australia Square is the 186 metre AAP Building which opened in 1982 as the Qantas Building.
[edit] Other Features of the Square
Facing Pitt Street is the 13-storey Plaza Building, a comparatively simple rectangular office building. Alongside the Tower Building sits a large abstract steel sculpture by Alexander Calder.
Extensive open public space is a feature of the Square. 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.
[edit] See also
Mitchell Library - Sydney's First Skyscraper (Culwalla Chambers)
Australia Square Online
Harry Seidler and Associates
