BankWest Tower
Encyclopedia
The BankWest Tower is a 52-storey
office tower in Perth
, Western Australia
. Completed in 1988, the building measures 214 metres (702.1 ft) to its roof and 247 metres (810.4 ft) to the tip of its communications antenna
. It was the tallest building in Perth from its completion in 1988 until 1992 when it was overtaken in height by Central Park
. As of 2009, it remains the second-tallest building in the city. The concrete tower has a distinctive profile, with a triangular plan.
The site occupied by the tower was home to the Palace Hotel
, and organised opposition was formed to try to save that building from demolition to make way for an office tower. The site was subsequently acquired by businessman Alan Bond
and the tower was approved and constructed in a plan that would retain much of the Palace Hotel. The tower then remained the headquarters of Bond's companies until their collapse. The tower has also been the headquarters of Western Australia's state bank
, BankWest (formerly known as the R&I Bank), since its completion.
and St Georges Terrace
was the site of the first licensed premises
in Perth from the 1830s.
The then-opulent Palace Hotel opened on this corner in 1897 during the days of the Western Australian gold rush
, and developed a "colourful" history, hosting numerous celebrities of the time.
The plot was purchased by the Commonwealth Banking Corporation, which announced in 1972 that it planned to redevelop the site as high-rise offices.
During the 1950s and 1960s, many of Perth's older buildings had been demolished to make way for modern developments, which led to wide criticism of the Perth City Council
for approving such redevelopments.
In this atmosphere, wide public protest resulted and a lobby group of concerned citizens calling themselves "The Palace Guards" worked to save the historic building.
This outcry led to condemnation of the plans and heritage listing of the property by the National Trust, and forced the Commonwealth Bank to ask the Federal Government to take the property off its hands.
The property was subsequently purchased from the Commonwealth Bank by businessman Alan Bond in 1978 along with the adjacent Terrace Arcade.
and main foyer area of the building.
However, the construction of the modern office tower at the site's north-eastern corner required demolition of Terrace Arcade, the eastern accommodation wing and the hotel's renowned dining room. The rationale given for the works required was that extensive renovations to the Palace Hotel in 1915 and the 1930s had weakened its structure significantly, as well as problems controlling white ants in the structure.
The development exceeded the acceptable plot ratio
in the town planning scheme, however the Perth City Council pre-approved the plans nonetheless, on the condition that Bond Corporation kept the Palace Hotel operating as a hotel.
Demolition of parts of the site commenced in August 1981, and by August 1983 construction had completed on the tower's foundation and three levels of underground parking.
However, there were continuing doubts about the viability of the building,
slowing the pace of the development. This changed on 7 September 1984 when R&I Bank Chairman David Fischer signed a joint venture agreement over the development with Austmark International, a subsidiary of Bond Corporation. The bank, which was at the time wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia
, consulted then-Premier
Brian Burke
in deciding whether to invest in the project.
Following the investment in the project by the bank, the developers successfully sought modification of the original planning approval by the Perth City Council to allow the use of the Palace Hotel as a bank, rather than remaining as a public hotel. With this permission, construction of the development by Multiplex
proceeded, and floor space was leased rapidly; by October 1985 only four floors of the building remained for lease and it was expected to be fully let before completion.
With construction finally proceeding once more, the Palace Hotel closed in June 1986. In April 1987, while the tower was still under construction, five men were arrested after illegally entering the site and parachuting
from the top of the tower in the early hours of the morning.
Construction proceeded at the rate of about one floor every eight to ten days.
The construction of the tower took three years to complete, with the first occupants moving in to the tower in July 1988.
The tower was officially opened in October 1989. Construction of the building cost A$
120 million, up from the 1984 estimates of $100 million.
Upon its completion, the building was the 55th-tallest building in the world, the third-tallest in Australia and the tallest in Perth (overtaking St Martins Tower
).
It was also the eighth-tallest concrete skyscraper in the world.
However, at this time there were already plans to build a taller building on the site of the former David Jones department store between Hay Street
and St Georges Terrace, which became Central Park
.
In November 1987, Alan Bond bought the Vincent van Gogh
painting Irises
and unveiled it in a purpose-built secure art gallery on the 49th floor of the tower on 23 December 1988.
Amidst a worsening financial situation for the Bond companies, Bond Corporation sold its half share in the building to R&I Bank for $108 million, making R&I Bank its outright owner.
In 1991 amid the collapse of the Bond empire, Bond shifted his offices out of the tower, leaving the top three floors vacant.
These floors then remained vacant for almost a decade.
From when it opened, the tower was referred to as both the Bond Tower and the R&I Tower, owing to the presence of both logos on the building's exterior. The Bond Corporation logos were later removed from the tower, and by the end of 1994, the signage on the building was updated to match the new name and logo of its owner and head tenant, BankWest.
BankWest sold the building in November 1994 for $146 million to Jetcloud Pty Ltd, which was majority owned by the AMP Society. However, BankWest retained the head lease over the building, and in 2000 the Bank occupied around 20 floors in the building. In 2002, Valad purchased a half-share in the tower for $92.5 million, which it then sold to Stockland in early 2007. Meanwhile, Multiplex
acquired its half-stake in the tower from its merger with Ronin Property Group
which was proposed in late 2004.
Brookfield Multiplex put its half share in the building up for sale in early 2008,
however an offer for the tower by Luke Saraceni fell through and the half share in the tower was taken off the property market.
BankWest announced in 2006 that it would not renew its occupancy lease, instead moving to a new tower proposed for Raine Square.
Due to delays with the Raine Square development, the Bank will be forced in November 2009 to seek a 5-year renewal of its lease in the BankWest Tower, the remainder of which will be taken on by Raine Square property developer Saracen Properties. Saracen Properties announced in May 2009 that they would not seek to renew their lease, and would vacate at the termination of their lease in November 2009. It was also revealed that the 50th floor office space once occupied by Alan Bond was still in the same condition as when he left in 1991, with Bond's former chair, desk and boardroom table available as part of the lease.
".
Working within this brief, they selected a triangular
cross-section of the tower because it lent "itself to open plan office layouts" by allowing natural light to reach most parts of the working floors. Also, the stepped front of the building maximised the number of corner office
s on each floor. The eastern and northern sides of the building are slip-formed concrete shear walls,
and have fewer windows. These sides house the services of the building, including the lift
shafts and stairwells. Some difficulty was encountered in the design stage with how to execute the diagonal slopes forming the top of these walls alongside the top five floors of the building, since a standard concrete pour was not possible. Instead, reinforced concrete panels were prefabricated elsewhere and subsequently attached to the structure.
The floor plates of the tower are constructed from conventional reinforced concrete beams and slabs. The building's 14 passenger lifts are divided into three zones: low rise (floors G-17), mid-rise (18–29) and high-rise (30–51), thought to be the first building in Australia to use such a configuration.
The foyer of the tower was originally planned to be an open-air forecourt between the building and the remains of the Palace Hotel, however extensive aeroelastic
wind testing of the structure by the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Murdoch University
forced this area to be covered with a glass canopy. Mocks of the curtain wall
s to be used in the tower were also tested to 1.5 times the proof load
to ensure they could withstand cyclone
-force weather and seismic
shocks. The building is clad with green-tinted double-pane glass on windows, with the service core and structure of the building covered with aluminium
sheeting skin coated with a light grey fluoropolymer
paint.
Upon completion, the mass of the building above ground was 66000 tonnes (145,505,093 lb). The building rests upon 43 belled concrete and steel piles
, of average length 30 metres (98.4 ft), which go "through 3 layers of swamp" to solid siltstone
bedrock
. These piles range in diameter from 2.5 metre to 2.9 metre. The basement
of the building has a depth of 16 metres (52.5 ft), and has a 0.5 metre thick diaphragm wall
to prevent water ingress.
While the building was under construction, on 21 September 1987 the Perth City Council approved the addition of a 48 metres (157.5 ft) spire to the top of the tower to house television and radio antennas, microwave antennas, navigation lights and surveillance cameras. However, when asked about the surveillance cameras, the R&I Bank's development spokesman Terry Pilbeam denied any knowledge about what any cameras would be used for. The spire was also approved by the Department of Transport and Communications, which said the spire would cause no air traffic problems, and the spire was added to the building upon completion.
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
office tower in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Completed in 1988, the building measures 214 metres (702.1 ft) to its roof and 247 metres (810.4 ft) to the tip of its communications antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
. It was the tallest building in Perth from its completion in 1988 until 1992 when it was overtaken in height by Central Park
Central Park (skyscraper)
Central Park is a 51-storey office tower in Perth, Western Australia. The building measures from its base at St Georges Terrace to the roof, and to the tip of its communications mast. Upon its completion in 1992, the tower became the tallest building in Perth...
. As of 2009, it remains the second-tallest building in the city. The concrete tower has a distinctive profile, with a triangular plan.
The site occupied by the tower was home to the Palace Hotel
Palace Hotel, Perth
The Palace Hotel in Perth, Western Australia is a landmark three-storey heritage listed building located in the city's central business district...
, and organised opposition was formed to try to save that building from demolition to make way for an office tower. The site was subsequently acquired by businessman Alan Bond
Alan Bond (businessman)
Alan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his...
and the tower was approved and constructed in a plan that would retain much of the Palace Hotel. The tower then remained the headquarters of Bond's companies until their collapse. The tower has also been the headquarters of Western Australia's state bank
State bank
A state bank is generally a financial institution that is chartered by a state. It differs from a reserve bank in that it does not necessarily control monetary policy , but instead usually offers only retail and commercial services.A state bank that has been in operation for five years or less is...
, BankWest (formerly known as the R&I Bank), since its completion.
Pre-1978
The tower's prime location at the corner of William StreetWilliam Street, Perth
William Street is a suburban distributor and one of two major cross-streets in Perth, Western Australia.Commencing in western Mount Lawley it also crosses the Perth to Fremantle railway at the Horseshoe Bridge....
and St Georges Terrace
St Georges Terrace, Perth
St Georges Terrace is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial road through the central business district....
was the site of the first licensed premises
Liquor license
-Alberta:In Alberta, liquor licences are issued by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.-United Kingdom:Throughout the United Kingdom, the sale of alcohol is restricted—pubs, restaurants, shops and other premises must be licensed by the local authority. The individual responsible for the...
in Perth from the 1830s.
The then-opulent Palace Hotel opened on this corner in 1897 during the days of the Western Australian gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
, and developed a "colourful" history, hosting numerous celebrities of the time.
The plot was purchased by the Commonwealth Banking Corporation, which announced in 1972 that it planned to redevelop the site as high-rise offices.
During the 1950s and 1960s, many of Perth's older buildings had been demolished to make way for modern developments, which led to wide criticism of the Perth City Council
City of Perth
The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth Metropolitan Area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government body is commonly known as Perth City Council. The city covers the Perth central business district and surrounding suburbs...
for approving such redevelopments.
In this atmosphere, wide public protest resulted and a lobby group of concerned citizens calling themselves "The Palace Guards" worked to save the historic building.
This outcry led to condemnation of the plans and heritage listing of the property by the National Trust, and forced the Commonwealth Bank to ask the Federal Government to take the property off its hands.
The property was subsequently purchased from the Commonwealth Bank by businessman Alan Bond in 1978 along with the adjacent Terrace Arcade.
Bond Corporation and construction: 1978-1988
In 1980, Bond unveiled new plans for the redevelopment of the site. These plans made some effort at preservation of the Palace Hotel, by retaining the facadeFacade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
and main foyer area of the building.
However, the construction of the modern office tower at the site's north-eastern corner required demolition of Terrace Arcade, the eastern accommodation wing and the hotel's renowned dining room. The rationale given for the works required was that extensive renovations to the Palace Hotel in 1915 and the 1930s had weakened its structure significantly, as well as problems controlling white ants in the structure.
The development exceeded the acceptable plot ratio
Floor Area Ratio
The floor area ratio or floor space index is the ratio of the total floor area of buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit imposed on such a ratio....
in the town planning scheme, however the Perth City Council pre-approved the plans nonetheless, on the condition that Bond Corporation kept the Palace Hotel operating as a hotel.
Demolition of parts of the site commenced in August 1981, and by August 1983 construction had completed on the tower's foundation and three levels of underground parking.
However, there were continuing doubts about the viability of the building,
slowing the pace of the development. This changed on 7 September 1984 when R&I Bank Chairman David Fischer signed a joint venture agreement over the development with Austmark International, a subsidiary of Bond Corporation. The bank, which was at the time wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
, consulted then-Premier
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
Brian Burke
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
in deciding whether to invest in the project.
Following the investment in the project by the bank, the developers successfully sought modification of the original planning approval by the Perth City Council to allow the use of the Palace Hotel as a bank, rather than remaining as a public hotel. With this permission, construction of the development by Multiplex
Multiplex (company)
Brookfield Multiplex is a global contracting and development company that designs, builds and maintains property and infrastructure assets.- History :Brookfield Multiplex was founded as Multiplex in 1962 in Perth, Western Australia by John Roberts...
proceeded, and floor space was leased rapidly; by October 1985 only four floors of the building remained for lease and it was expected to be fully let before completion.
With construction finally proceeding once more, the Palace Hotel closed in June 1986. In April 1987, while the tower was still under construction, five men were arrested after illegally entering the site and parachuting
Parachuting
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
from the top of the tower in the early hours of the morning.
Construction proceeded at the rate of about one floor every eight to ten days.
The construction of the tower took three years to complete, with the first occupants moving in to the tower in July 1988.
The tower was officially opened in October 1989. Construction of the building cost A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
120 million, up from the 1984 estimates of $100 million.
Upon its completion, the building was the 55th-tallest building in the world, the third-tallest in Australia and the tallest in Perth (overtaking St Martins Tower
St Martins Tower
St Martins Tower is a office building in Perth, Western Australia. It was the tallest building in the city from its completion in 1978 for almost 10 years, until it was overtaken in height by the BankWest Tower in 1988. The tower contains a revolving restaurant and cocktail lounge on the top floor...
).
It was also the eighth-tallest concrete skyscraper in the world.
However, at this time there were already plans to build a taller building on the site of the former David Jones department store between Hay Street
Hay Street, Perth
Hay Street is a major road through the CBD of Perth, Western Australia. The street was named after Robert William Hay, the Permanent Under Secretary for Colonies. Sections of the road were called Howick Street and Twiss Street until 1897...
and St Georges Terrace, which became Central Park
Central Park (skyscraper)
Central Park is a 51-storey office tower in Perth, Western Australia. The building measures from its base at St Georges Terrace to the roof, and to the tip of its communications mast. Upon its completion in 1992, the tower became the tallest building in Perth...
.
After completion: 1988-present
The top three floors of the building were occupied by Alan Bond's private investment company Dallhold Investments, which owned a majority stake in Bond Corporation.In November 1987, Alan Bond bought the Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
painting Irises
Irises (painting)
Irises is a painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Irises was painted while Vincent van Gogh was living at the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, in the last year before his death in 1890....
and unveiled it in a purpose-built secure art gallery on the 49th floor of the tower on 23 December 1988.
Amidst a worsening financial situation for the Bond companies, Bond Corporation sold its half share in the building to R&I Bank for $108 million, making R&I Bank its outright owner.
In 1991 amid the collapse of the Bond empire, Bond shifted his offices out of the tower, leaving the top three floors vacant.
These floors then remained vacant for almost a decade.
From when it opened, the tower was referred to as both the Bond Tower and the R&I Tower, owing to the presence of both logos on the building's exterior. The Bond Corporation logos were later removed from the tower, and by the end of 1994, the signage on the building was updated to match the new name and logo of its owner and head tenant, BankWest.
BankWest sold the building in November 1994 for $146 million to Jetcloud Pty Ltd, which was majority owned by the AMP Society. However, BankWest retained the head lease over the building, and in 2000 the Bank occupied around 20 floors in the building. In 2002, Valad purchased a half-share in the tower for $92.5 million, which it then sold to Stockland in early 2007. Meanwhile, Multiplex
Multiplex (company)
Brookfield Multiplex is a global contracting and development company that designs, builds and maintains property and infrastructure assets.- History :Brookfield Multiplex was founded as Multiplex in 1962 in Perth, Western Australia by John Roberts...
acquired its half-stake in the tower from its merger with Ronin Property Group
which was proposed in late 2004.
Brookfield Multiplex put its half share in the building up for sale in early 2008,
however an offer for the tower by Luke Saraceni fell through and the half share in the tower was taken off the property market.
BankWest announced in 2006 that it would not renew its occupancy lease, instead moving to a new tower proposed for Raine Square.
Due to delays with the Raine Square development, the Bank will be forced in November 2009 to seek a 5-year renewal of its lease in the BankWest Tower, the remainder of which will be taken on by Raine Square property developer Saracen Properties. Saracen Properties announced in May 2009 that they would not seek to renew their lease, and would vacate at the termination of their lease in November 2009. It was also revealed that the 50th floor office space once occupied by Alan Bond was still in the same condition as when he left in 1991, with Bond's former chair, desk and boardroom table available as part of the lease.
Design
The tower was designed by architects Cameron Chisolm & Nicol. The major parameter given to them in the planning of the building was that "all office areas should face the excellent views that exist of the Swan RiverSwan River (Western Australia)
The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....
".
Working within this brief, they selected a triangular
Right triangle
A right triangle or right-angled triangle is a triangle in which one angle is a right angle . The relation between the sides and angles of a right triangle is the basis for trigonometry.-Terminology:The side opposite the right angle is called the hypotenuse...
cross-section of the tower because it lent "itself to open plan office layouts" by allowing natural light to reach most parts of the working floors. Also, the stepped front of the building maximised the number of corner office
Corner office
A corner office is an office that is located in the corner of a building. Corner offices are considered desirable because they have windows on two exterior walls, as opposed to a typical office with only one window or none at all...
s on each floor. The eastern and northern sides of the building are slip-formed concrete shear walls,
and have fewer windows. These sides house the services of the building, including the lift
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
shafts and stairwells. Some difficulty was encountered in the design stage with how to execute the diagonal slopes forming the top of these walls alongside the top five floors of the building, since a standard concrete pour was not possible. Instead, reinforced concrete panels were prefabricated elsewhere and subsequently attached to the structure.
The floor plates of the tower are constructed from conventional reinforced concrete beams and slabs. The building's 14 passenger lifts are divided into three zones: low rise (floors G-17), mid-rise (18–29) and high-rise (30–51), thought to be the first building in Australia to use such a configuration.
The foyer of the tower was originally planned to be an open-air forecourt between the building and the remains of the Palace Hotel, however extensive aeroelastic
Aeroelasticity
Aeroelasticity is the science which studies the interactions among inertial, elastic, and aerodynamic forces. It was defined by Arthur Collar in 1947 as "the study of the mutual interaction that takes place within the triangle of the inertial, elastic, and aerodynamic forces acting on structural...
wind testing of the structure by the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
forced this area to be covered with a glass canopy. Mocks of the curtain wall
Curtain wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
s to be used in the tower were also tested to 1.5 times the proof load
Factor of safety
Factor of safety , also known as safety factor , is a term describing the structural capacity of a system beyond the expected loads or actual loads. Essentially, how much stronger the system is than it usually needs to be for an intended load...
to ensure they could withstand cyclone
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
-force weather and seismic
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
shocks. The building is clad with green-tinted double-pane glass on windows, with the service core and structure of the building covered with aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
sheeting skin coated with a light grey fluoropolymer
Fluoropolymer
A fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon based polymer with multiple strong carbon–fluorine bonds. It is characterized by a high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases.-History:Fluoropolymers were accidentally discovered in 1938 by Dr. Roy J...
paint.
Upon completion, the mass of the building above ground was 66000 tonnes (145,505,093 lb). The building rests upon 43 belled concrete and steel piles
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
, of average length 30 metres (98.4 ft), which go "through 3 layers of swamp" to solid siltstone
Siltstone
Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones.- Description :As its name implies, it is primarily composed of silt sized particles, defined as grains 1/16 - 1/256 mm or 4 to 8 on the Krumbein phi scale...
bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
. These piles range in diameter from 2.5 metre to 2.9 metre. The basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
of the building has a depth of 16 metres (52.5 ft), and has a 0.5 metre thick diaphragm wall
Vertical damp proof barrier
The purpose of a Vertical Damp Proof Barrier is to prevent the ingress of damp and water into subterranean structures such as basements, cellars, tunnels and earth shielded buildings. ....
to prevent water ingress.
While the building was under construction, on 21 September 1987 the Perth City Council approved the addition of a 48 metres (157.5 ft) spire to the top of the tower to house television and radio antennas, microwave antennas, navigation lights and surveillance cameras. However, when asked about the surveillance cameras, the R&I Bank's development spokesman Terry Pilbeam denied any knowledge about what any cameras would be used for. The spire was also approved by the Department of Transport and Communications, which said the spire would cause no air traffic problems, and the spire was added to the building upon completion.
Gallery
See also
- Central Park (skyscraper)Central Park (skyscraper)Central Park is a 51-storey office tower in Perth, Western Australia. The building measures from its base at St Georges Terrace to the roof, and to the tip of its communications mast. Upon its completion in 1992, the tower became the tallest building in Perth...
- List of tallest buildings in Perth
- List of tallest buildings in Australia
External links
- Emporis listing for the tower
- SkyscraperPage for the tower
- 3D model of the tower for use in Google Earth.
- Webcam taken from the Bankwest Tower
- State Library of Western Australia – photographs of the building as proposed and under construction