Nauru House | |
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Record height | |
Tallest in Melbourne from 1977 to 1978 [I] | |
Preceded by | Optus Centre |
Surpassed by | Collins Place |
General information | |
Type | Office |
Location | Exhibition Street, Melbourne, Australia |
Coordinates | 37°48′48″S144°58′15″E / 37.81333°S 144.97083°E |
Completed | 1977 |
Height | |
Antenna spire | 190 m (620 ft) |
Roof | 183 m (600 ft) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 52 |
Floor area | 50,500 m2 (544,000 sq ft) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa |
Main contractor | Civil & Civic |
Nauru House (also called 80 Collins Street) is a landmark 52-storey building located in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. The building was designed by architectural firm Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa and completed in 1977.
By the early 1970s, the tiny Pacific island nation of the Republic of Nauru had large funds generated by the sale of phosphate. They established the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust (NPRT) to invest the profits in international real estate. [1]
The site on the corner of Exhibition and Little Collins streets was purchased by the NPRT in 1972 for A$19 million, for the construction of an investment office tower. [2]
The site included a number of older buildings facing Collins Street, and the development was proposed at a time of increasing concern at the loss of the historic buildings of the famed 'Paris End' of Collins Street. [3] The long established Ogg's Chemist at 76-78 Collins, the adjacent terrace at 80 Collins, and the three storey Victorian terrace at 84 Collins were demolished by 1972, but attempts to purchase and demolish the exclusive Le Louvre boutique at 72-74 Collins Street (built in 1855) were stymied by the owner Lillian Wightman who refused to sell. [4] The four storey 1960s Palmer House at 82 Collins between the two demolished buildings was also not purchased, leaving a pair of 'gaps' in Collins Street, which were paved and landscaped. The space where 78 - 80 Collins had been, flanked by roughly finished side walls of the remaining buildings, gave Nauru House an address of 80 Collins Street.
When completed in 1977 it briefly became the tallest building in Melbourne; however, it was not tall enough to take the mantle as Australia's tallest building, with the strikingly similar, but taller MLC Centre in Sydney completed just a few months earlier by the same builder. In 1978, Nauru House was surpassed by the first Collins Place tower as the tallest building in Melbourne.
Due to cracks and decay in the pebble finish of the concrete, all the exterior of the tower was encased in matte-gray aluminium in 1991. [5]
In the early 2000s, following decades of mismanagement, over-spending and spiralling loans from General Electric, estimated to amount to approximately A$227 million, the NPRT was forced to sell off its international assets. [6] [7]
Nauru House was purchased by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) in December 2004 for A$140 million . [8]
A large scale redevelopment of the site was first planned in 2008, with an office tower taller than Nauru House proposed between it and Collins Street, cantilevering over the remaining historic buildings. [9] Thirty years after the original development, QIC was successful this time in purchasing Le Louvre at 72-74 Collins Street from Lillian's daughter Georgina Weir, and the business moved to South Yarra. [10] QIC also bought and then demolished the 1960s office block at 82 Collins Street, creating the wide frontage to Collins Street that Nauru House had failed to establish. The final design for the redevelopment was for a 35 level office tower with a front portion cantilevering out to a point setback 6m from Collins Street (and with only a 6m gap between it and Nauru House), a new podium with shops and an arcade, an 'infill' streetscape of shops on Collins Street, and a 300 room hotel facing Little Collins Street. [9] The design was a collaboration between Jouin Manku, Seventh Wave, UNStudio, and local architects Woods Bagot. Construction commenced in 2017, with completion due in 2020, with the new tower is to be known as 80 Collins South Tower, and Nauru House to be renamed as 80 Collins North Tower. [11]
In early 2019, the under-construction development was purchased by Dexus for a reported $1.4 billion. [12]
In December 2019, following reported structural issues, the Le Louvre building was reduced to a facade. [13]
The development was progressively completed through 202-21, with a number of high-end hospitality venues and shops occupying the ground level and the lower buildings facing Collins Street. [14] [15] [16]
Rialto is a skyscraper located at 525 Collins Street, in the western side of the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere when it was constructed.
25 Martin Place is a skyscraper in Sydney, Australia. Originally named the "MLC Centre" after MLC Limited, and still commonly referred to by that name, in 2021 the name was removed by its owner, Dexus, which now refers to the building simply by its street address of 25 Martin Place.
Collins Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in the first survey of Melbourne, the original 1837 Hoddle Grid, and soon became the most desired address in the city. Collins Street was named after Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania David Collins who led a group of settlers in establishing a short-lived settlement at Sorrento in 1803.
Eastland Shopping Centre is a super-regional shopping centre complex located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, Victoria, Australia. The fourth-largest shopping centre in Australia, it first opened on 31 October 1967 and has since grown to host over 340 retail stores and services.
The Optus Centre is located at 367 Collins Street, Melbourne. Standing 153 metres tall, it incorporates 34 floors, and was completed in 1975. The main foyer, and mezzanine areas are home to cafes and formerly, a branch of the Commonwealth Bank. Major tenants include Optus, Sportsbet, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Insync and a donor centre for Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.
Waterfront Place is an office building in the Brisbane central business district in Queensland, Australia. It is located at 1 Eagle Street, beside the Brisbane River. It was constructed by renowned Queensland builder and developer F. A. Pidgeon and Son who led the projects development in a joint venture with Folkestone Limited. Construction was completed in 1989. The building stands 162 metres (531 ft) tall.
101 Collins Street is a 260 m (850 ft) skyscraper located in Collins Street, Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. The 57-storey building designed by Denton Corker Marshall was completed in March 1991. Towards the end of project, with a change of developer, the foyer space was designed by John Burgee, noted as a pioneer of postmodern architecture.
The CRA Building, located at 89 - 101 Collins Street, was a curtain-walled office building in the international style, designed by Bernard Evans and Partners for Conzinc Riotinto of Australia. When completed in 1962 it was the tallest building in Melbourne, a mantle it held until 1969 when it was surpassed by AMP Square in the western end of the city. When it was demolished in 1988, it was the youngest major building and the first skyscraper to be demolished in the city.
The Federal Coffee Palace was a large, elaborate French Second Empire style 560 room temperance hotel in the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, built between 1886 and 1888 at the height of the city's 1880s land boom, and demolished in 1972-73. Located on Collins Street, the premier thoroughfare, on the corner of King Street, near Spencer Street Station, it is prominent in lists of the buildings Melburnians most regret having lost.
The architecture of Melbourne, Victoria, and Australia is characterised by a wide variety of styles. The city is particularly noted for its mix of Victorian architecture and contemporary buildings, with 74 skyscrapers in the city centre, the most of any city in the Southern Hemisphere.
Australia 108 is a residential supertall skyscraper in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Having officially topped out in June 2020, it became the tallest building in Australia by roof height, surpassing the Eureka Tower, and the second-tallest building in Australia by full height, surpassed by Q1 Tower.
555 Collins Street is a new Premium Grade Office building, located on the corner of Collins and King Street in the Melbourne CBD. Enterprise House, an office building that replaced the Second Empire Federal Coffee Palace, has been demolished by owners, Charter Hall to make way for an 85,000sqm NLA two stage office development.
The APA Building was a skyscraper in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; at 12 storeys and 53m to the tip of its corner spire, it became the Australia's tallest commercial building at the time of its completion in mid 1890 exceeding the previous height record set by of the Federal Coffee Palace. It was later reputed (erroneously) to have been the world's tallest at the time.
The Pacific Star Building, also known as the Nauru Building, is a 29-storey high-rise building in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was the tallest building in the country upon its completion.
Queens Place is an approved residential complex of twin skyscrapers, to be built on 350 Queen Street in Melbourne, Victoria. Upon completion, they will be amongst the tallest buildings in Melbourne, and the tallest twin skyscrapers in Australia.
STH BNK by Beulah, previously and still commonly referred to as Green Spine, is a dual skyscraper development proposed for Melbourne’s Southbank precinct by Beulah International, and designed by architectural firms UNStudio and Cox Architecture. The site currently hosts a BMW dealership.
Media related to Nauru House at Wikimedia Commons
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List of tallest buildings in Melbourne | |||||
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Heights are to highest architectural element. |