Nauru House

Nauru House
Record height
Tallest in Melbourne from 1977 to 1978[I]
Preceded by Optus Centre
Surpassed by ANZ at Collins Place
General information
Type Office
Location Melbourne, Australia
Coordinates 37°48′48″S 144°58′15″E / 37.81333°S 144.97083°E / -37.81333; 144.97083Coordinates: 37°48′48″S 144°58′15″E / 37.81333°S 144.97083°E / -37.81333; 144.97083
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 Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa

Nauru House (also called 80 Collins Street[1]) is a landmark 52-storey building located in the Melbourne CBD. The building was designed by architectural firm Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa.

History

The land the building sits on was bought in 1972 at a price of A$19 million by the government of the Republic of Nauru as an international investment.[2] Nauru, which had become incredibly wealthy thanks to the selling of phosphate, began the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust (NPRT) to re-invest profits in international real-estate.[3]

Controversy was stirred when construction began in 1972, as the government of Nauru decided to raze two buildings with "high heritage value" in order to have the building face the desirable Collins Street, and thus, a Collins Street address. Even amid public outcry, the historic buildings were torn down to make way for construction.

When completed in 1977 it 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 MLC Centre in Sydney retaining that honour from when it was completed just a few months earlier in the same year. In 1981, Nauru House was surpassed in height by the Regent Hotel (now Sofitel Melbourne) to no longer be the tallest building in Melbourne.

Following decades of mismanagement, corruption, and spiralling loans to General Electric, estimated to amount to approximately A$227 million, the NPRT was forced to sell off its international assets to pay loans.[4][5] Nauru House is now owned by QIC after purchasing the building for A$140 million in December 2004.[6]

Facade

Between 1994 and 1996, the Nauru House went under a facelift to replace the former pebble-concrete facade of the building with new, matte-gray aluminium siding.

Records

Following the building's completion, it was the tallest building in Melbourne until 1980, when the nearby Collins Place complex was opened.

Facts

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Nauru House". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  2. ↑ Shepherd, Dick (4 February 1972). "Hotel men expected to press for Govt. aid". The Age. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  3. ↑ McKenzie, Greg (11 March 1976). "Giddy limit in tall storeys". The Age. p. 16. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Clausen, Lisa (18 May 2004). "Can Nauru Stay Afloat?". Time Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  5. ↑ Westerman, Helen (24 August 2004). "Nauru House expected to fade away". The Age. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  6. ↑ Westerman, Helen (8 April 2005). "Nauru moves out of Melbourne with $9.9m sale". The Age. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  7. ↑ Day, Norman (20 April 1977). "Nauru's new ill-mannered house". The Age. p. 2. Retrieved 25 April 2011.

Media related to Nauru House at Wikimedia Commons

List of tallest buildings in Australia
Next shorter
AMP Centre
188m
Next taller
Suncorp Place
193m
Heights are to highest architectural element.
List of tallest buildings in Melbourne
Next Shortest
Collins Place
185m
Next Tallest
Freshwater Place
205m
Heights are to highest architectural element.
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