Commonwealth Trading Bank building | |
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Location in the Sydney central business district | |
Alternative names | Money Box building (also sometimes confused with the State Savings Bank Building) [1] |
General information | |
Status | Completed |
Type | Retail Office |
Architectural style | Grecian Doric, Art Deco |
Address | 120 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD, New South Wales, Australia |
Coordinates | 33°52′4.46″S151°12′31.87″E / 33.8679056°S 151.2088528°E |
Construction started | 1913 |
Opened | August 1916 |
Renovated |
|
Client | Commonwealth Bank; Australian Government |
Owner |
|
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | John Kirkpatrick |
Main contractor | Phippard Bros |
Designations | Local government register |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) |
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Main contractor |
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References | |
[2] |
The Commonwealth Trading Bank Building, also known as the Commonwealth Bank Building, is a historically significant building in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia, located on the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place. It was formerly the headquarters of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which for a significant part of the 20th century functioned as Australia's central bank.
The Commonwealth Bank was created in 1911 under order of Prime Minister Andrew Fisher. Its head office was designed by architect John Kirkpatrick, who was the cousin of the bank's governor. In August 1916, the building opened. The building was expanded with extensions designed by E.H. Henderson and F. Hill between 1929 and 1933 along Pitt Street, and in 1966 construction was begun on an annex facing Martin Place, completed in 1967.
From 2012 the building was extensively refurbished. The 1960s extension was rebuilt, while much of the 1916 building and 1930s extension was stripped out and refurbished. [3] [4] [5] The building now houses retail space in the old banking hall.
The building was listed on the now defunct Register of the National Estate between 1978 until the register's abolition in 2007, [6] and it is now listed on the City of Sydney local government heritage register. [2] The building is described as a national symbol, "the first and very substantial physical manifestation of the powers that the Commonwealth Government acquired in the area of banking after the federation of the Australian colonies." [6] The building is also regarded as significant for its design, combining Grecian Doric, Art Deco and other influences. [6]
The image of the building itself became familiar to many people across Australia during the 20th century through its use on money boxes issued by the Commonwealth Bank to children starting from 1922. The money boxes were rectangular shape, roughly reflecting the dimensions of the bank building, and printed with the building's exterior. As a result, it is referred to as the "money box building". (The State Savings Bank building at 48 Martin Place was also featured on some later money boxes, and is also sometimes called the "money box building"). [1]
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 sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's Central railway station. Pitt Street is well known for the pedestrian only retail centre of Pitt Street Mall, a section of the street which runs from King Street to Market Street.
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. As home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank, Westpac and other corporations, it is also a centre of business and finance. The Sydney GPO is also located on Martin Place.
Martin Place railway station is a heritage-listed underground commuter rail station located on the Eastern Suburbs line, serving the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. Named after Martin Place, it is served by Sydney Trains T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line services and NSW TrainLink South Coast Line services. It was designed by Fowell, Mansfield Jarvis and McLurcan and built from 1973 to 1979. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Castlereagh Street is a 1.6-kilometre-long (1 mi) major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs in a north-to-south, in a one way direction only.
Australian non-residential architectural styles are a set of Australian architectural styles that apply to buildings used for purposes other than residence and have been around only since the first colonial government buildings of early European settlement of Australia in 1788.
The General Post Office is a heritage-listed landmark building located in Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in 1866 and was designed under the guidance of Colonial Architect James Barnet. Composed primarily of local Sydney sandstone, mined in Pyrmont, the primary load-bearing northern façade has been described as "the finest example of the Victorian Italian Renaissance Style in NSW" and stretches 114 metres (374 ft) along Martin Place, making it one of the largest sandstone buildings in Sydney.
The State Savings Bank Building is a heritage-listed large bank building and commercial offices situated at 48–50 Martin Place, in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Ross & Rowe Architects and Consulting Engineers and built from 1925 to 1928 by Concrete Constructions Ltd. It is also known as The Government Savings Bank of New South Wales, Commonwealth Bank building (former), and CBA Building. After several decades of use by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, including as its headquarters from 1984, it was purchased by financial services company Macquarie Group in 2012, refurbished, and now serves as Macquarie's global headquarters as 50 Martin Place. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 November 2000.
Commonwealth Bank Building is a heritage-listed former bank building at 114 Goondoon Street, Gladstone Central, Gladstone, Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1928 to 1929. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 July 2000.
Kullaroo House is a heritage-listed former bank building at 40 Goondoon Street, Gladstone, Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by James Percy Owen Cowlishaw and built from 1910 to 1911 by A A Carrick. It is also known as Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Ltd. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 March 1999.
Reserve Bank of Australia Building is a heritage-listed bank building at 65 Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.
The Sydney Water Head Office, now known as Kimpton Margot Sydney is a heritage-listed hotel, formerly an office building, located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Henry Budden & Mackey and built from 1938 to 1939 by Howie Moffat & Co, commonly called the Water Board Building and formally the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board Headquarters. Following Sydney Water's relocation to Parramatta in 2009, it was converted into a hotel (as The Primus Hotel, part of a chain of hotels owned by the municipal government of Shanghai, while the adjoining 1969 office building was redeveloped to become the Greenland Centre. In 2021, Primus Hotel Sydney closed, and in 2022 the hotel re-opened as part of the Kimpton chain operated by IHG Hotels & Resorts.
343 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed former bank building and now nine-storey retail and commercial premises. It is located at 343 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1921 to 1925, and until 2008 housed banking premises of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (CBC) and later National Australia Bank. The building is also known as CBC Bank, NAB Bank and Barrack House. The property is now owned by the New South Wales Government-owned superannuation fund. The ground floor is leased as retail premises, while the upper storeys are used as commercial office space.
Challis House is a heritage-listed commercial building located at 4–10 Martin Place in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The MLC Building is a heritage-listed office building located at 42–46 Martin Place in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bates Smart & McCutcheon and built from 1936 to 1938 by Concrete Constructions Limited. It is also known as Mutual Life & Assurance Building. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. From the time of its construction and for many years thereafter, the building served as the offices for Australian life insurance company, Mutual Life & Citizens Assurance Company Limited. As of December 2018 the anchor tenant was Norton Rose Fulbright, formerly Henry Davis York, an international law firm.
The Sydney Club is a heritage-listed club premises at 122 Pitt Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Mansfield Brothers and built from 1886 to 1887 by A & A Scott. It is also known as Million House. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Trust Building is a heritage-listed office and commercial building and former hotel located at 72-72a Castlereagh Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by firm Robertson & Marks and built from 1914 to 1916 by Stuart Brothers. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Red Cross House is a heritage-listed former commercial building and now Australian Red Cross and blood transfusion centre located at 153-159 Clarence Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Samuel Lipson, architect, in conjunction with Robertson and Marks and McCredie and built from 1937 to 1938 by Kell & Rigby. It was originally built for the firm of S. Hoffnung & Co.. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 25 May 2001.
354 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed retail and office building and former bank building located at 354 George Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed in various stages by Edward Raht, A. K. Henderson, Joseland & Gilling and Kevin Winterbottom and Assoc. and built in various stages from 1902 to 1937 by Loveridge & Hudson and Kell & Rigby. It is also known as ANZ Bank (former); ANZ Bank; United Permanent Building; 2 Martin Place; Paspaley Pearls; 354-360 George Street; and Bank of Australasia. The property is owned by Paspaley Pearls Properties P/L. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Rural Bank Building was a landmark bank and commercial building on a block bounded by Martin Place, Elizabeth Street, and Phillip Street in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. Completed in 1936 and designed in the Inter-war Art Deco style by the bank's chief architect, Frank William Turner, the building served as the Rural Bank's main headquarters until 1982. Despite its distinctive design receiving recognition for its heritage value as "one of the finest art deco buildings in Australia", including from the Australian Institute of Architects and through a listing on the Federal Register of the National Estate, the Rural Bank Building was controversially demolished in 1983 and replaced by the postmodern State Bank Centre development by Peddle Thorp & Walker, prompting greater community efforts to protect the heritage of Sydney.