BankWest Tower
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The BankWest Tower is the second tallest skyscraper in Perth, Western Australia. Until the Central Park Tower was completed it was the tallest building in the city. The roof is 214 meters (702 feet) above the ground and the tip of the antenna is 247 meters (810 feet) is above the ground.
The 50 storey tower was built as the headquarters of the R & I Bank and the Bond Corporation. Construction began in 1981 and was completed in 1988. The building officially opened in October 1989 and was known as the "Bond Tower". After the collapse of the Bond Corporation, the "Bond" words were removed from the tower, and it became known as the "R & I Tower". When the R & I Bank was renamed to "BankWest", the tower took on the bank's new name.
The tower has a cross section in the shape of a right triangle, with a series of bay windows on the hypotenuse. This maximises the number of corner offices.
The building rises above the former Palace Hotel which was built at the end of the 19th century during the days of the West Australian Gold Rush. The facades and stair core of the hotel were retained and restored to accommodate the former R & I banking chamber.