| Westpac House | |
|---|---|
Westpac House in 2008 |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial |
| Location | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Coordinates | |
| Completed | 1988 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 132 m (433 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 31 |
| Design and construction | |
| Main contractor | Baulderstone Hornibrook Pty Ltd, KONE Elevators Pty Ltd, Woods Bagot Adelaide, Santos Limited |
| Architect | Rod Roach Architecture in association with Woods Bagot Adelaide |
Westpac House (formerly Santos House and State Bank Building) is the tallest building in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is a 31 storey office tower, reaching 132 metres at its roof, with each level approximately 4 metres in height. It is set back from Currie Street near the intersection with King William Street, and is connected to two adjacent office buildings on Currie Street. It has four street frontages, and various pedestrian thoroughfares.
Opened in 1988 as the State Bank Building, it became Santos House after the collapse of the State Bank in the early 1990s. In 2006, its major tenants included Santos, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kelly & Co., Ernst & Young, and the Australian Stock Exchange. In 2007, Santos moved their headquarters into a new building on Flinders Street, and Westpac acquired the naming rights to the building.
For the last 20 years, in the lead up to (and during) major holidays, the windows are selectively lit up in formation. These include a white cross for Easter and ANZAC Day, and a tree (in fluorescent green) for Christmas.
Abacus Property Group acquired a 50% interest in Santos House in October 2004.
Being the tallest building in Adelaide, it was chosen as the venue for the stair race events at the 2007 World Police and Fire Games.
Between the 11 and 15 May 2007, the 'Santos' sign on the building was removed and a single red 'W', the Westpac logo, had replaced it by 21 June.
In December 2009, Westpac House was the 89th Tallest building in Australia.