AMP Sydney Cove Building
Location: Cnr Alfred & Phillip Streets, Sydney.1962 - It comes as a surprise to many people that the AMP Building on Circular Quay is heritage listed. The reason for this prestigious status is that it represented a major turning point in the look and design of commercial buildings in the Central Business District, ushering in the age of the modern skyscraper.
Following approaches to the Sydney City Council over a 5 year period by the AMP Society to construct a building which broke the existing height limit of its day, vigorous public debate took place before a Bill was passed in the NSW Parliament changing the limit, thus allowing this project to proceed. When opened, its height was nearly twice that of any other building in the city.
Built as the head office of a leading Australian owned and operated insurance company, the building broke new ground not only with its height but also in that it did not occupy the whole of its site. Only 55% of the site was occupied by the office tower, the rest was to be part of the public space around Circular Quay, achieved by the removal of vehicular traffic from Alfred Street. For a time this occurred but the re-introduction of taxis and buses has turned the forecourt of the AMP Building into wasted space as it is separated from the rest of the Circular Quay open area by a busy roadway.
A rooftop lookout proved a popular tourist attraction until a similar lookout on the higher Australia Square building opened 5 years later, precipitating its closure. Following the new curtain wall-shaped office tower designs of New York architect Gordon Bunshaft, it broke new ground not only in its shape but also in being one of the first office buildings in Australia to feature floor to ceiling windows. Initially, the reflection from Circular Quay on the windows caused major air conditioning problems.
Heritage Listing
The old and the new - the 1976 AMP head office building towers over the 1962 AMP building on Sydney Cove (left forefront)
New Head Office
A decade after AMP Insurance group moved into its shiny new building on Sydney Cove, the company had out-grown the premises and needed more office space in close proximity to their harbourside building. Their solution was to purchase the land on the rise immediately behind the building and erect a new head office. For many years a tramway depot stood on this site. A steam train service inaugurated for the opening of the Garden Palace International Exhibition in 1879 was only meant to be temporary, for the duration of the Exhibition. It was such a success and so popular that it was kept on. The steam motors and double decker passenger cars came from the United States.The new office tower was completed in 1976 and for a period of just over a year, was the city's tallest building. Standing 188 metres tall, what is still the head office building of the AMP Society insurance group shows obvious influences of Eero Saarinens CBS building in New York, a feature it shares with similar AMP office towers in other states. 50 Bridge Street, Sydney. Height: 188 metres.
Historical Notes
The site chosen for the AMP headquarters building, fronting Alfred Street, was a consolidation of building lots. Part of the site originally housed a massive 107 year old wool store, of 5 storeys, built for Thomas Mort. AMP was determined to obtain a site sufficiently large enough to comfortably accommodate the needs of the organisation while allowing only a minimal site coverage. Negotiations regarding the building began with Sydney City Council in late 1956. At this time the planned building would breach the 150 foot height limit placed on Sydney buildings in 1912. In March 1957 the AMP Insurance Society applied to the NSW Chief Secretary for permission to exceed, by at least 100 feet, the existing building height limit for their proposed new skyscraper. A precedent had already been set with concessions gained by ICI, in Melbourne.A month after AMP's application, a bill to breach the old height restrictions was introduced to the NSW Legislative Assembly. AMP's desire to exceed the established height limit provoked twelve months of investigations by the Government and Sydney City Council. A second Development Application for the proposed 383 feet tower, covering only fifty five percent of the site with the rest given over to an urban plaza, was submitted in 1958. Approval was finally granted with the building applications being submitted in 1959. A high level of public debate accompanied the construction of the AMP building with objections not restricted to the impact of its height on the Quay, but also to its curved facade this was almost as controversial as its height. The AMP adjacent to Circular Quay, together with Goldfield House, formed the 1960's gateway to the city, a three dimensional parabola which defined the height of buildings until 1985.
