State Office Block

State Office Block
General information
Type Government Office Building
Architectural style Late Twentieth Century International
Address 88 Phillip Street
Town or city Sydney, New South Wales
Country Australia
Construction started 1961
Completed 1965
Opening 18 September 1967
Demolished 1997
Client New South Wales Government
Height
Roof 128 m (420 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 38
Design and construction
Architect Ken Woolley
Architecture firm NSW Government Architect's Office
Engineer Taylor Thomson and Whitting
Main contractor Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd

The State Office Block was a landmark modernist skyscraper complex on a block bounded by Phillip Street, Bent Street and Macquarie Street in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. Completed in 1965 and designed in the modernist International style by Ken Woolley from the NSW Government Architect's Office, the 128 metre-high building (known colloquially as the "Black Stump") took the title of the tallest building in Australia from the nearby AMP Building until 1967, when Harry Seidler's 170m Australia Square tower was completed. Designed to hold offices of the NSW Government, including the cabinet and the Premier's office, the State Office Block was demolished in 1997 to make way for Renzo Piano's Aurora Place development.

History

In 1962 the NSW Government of Bob Heffron called for tenders for a new 420 ft (130 m) office block to hold government offices in the Sydney CBD, on a block bounded by Phillip Street, Bent Street and Macquarie Street.[1] This required the demolition of the 1870s Government Printing Office building and the 1820s Australian Subscription Library.[2] The NSW Government Architect's Office of Ted Farmer was the successful tenderer with a design by Ken Woolley of a 38-floor tower of composite concrete and steel with deep window recesses clad in black granite.[3] Woolley's design accounted for the sun-exposure for such a tall building by including measures such as floor slabs projecting beyond the window line to make sunhoods, which were clad in bronze sheeting. Woolley also designed the interiors which were influenced by Scandinavian modernism exemplified by the use of modular furniture. The lift lobby leading for the Premier's office floor was decorated by a double-sided oxidised bronze Coat of Arms of New South Wales by sculptor Bert Flugelman.[4]

The building was completed at a total cost of over A£7 million.[5] The office of the Premier moved into the building from the old Treasury Building, and State Cabinet meetings were held in the top-floor cabinet room. The State Office Block was the first major office building erected for the NSW Public Service since 1927 and provided accommodation for six departments: the Premiers Department, The Treasury and the departments of agriculture, local government, mines and public works. The building was topped out in 1965 and was officially opened on 18 September 1967 by Premier Bob Askin.[6]

Demolition

By the late 1980s the office block remained in use, but discussion over its future began when government policy shifted to leasing rather than owning office space. In 1987 Premier Barrie Unsworth dismissed suggestions that the building be retained, saying: "We will always retain our heritage buildings but there is no real reason why we should retain the State Office Block". The State Office Block survived into the 1990s, with heated discussion continuing over its future, but it was "considered old enough to be outdated, yet too young to be of heritage value" and was sold and demolished in 1997, to be replaced by the Renzo Piano-designed Aurora Place.[7] On it's demolition, the Sydney Morning Herald lamented that "there were murmurings in architectural circles [against its demolition] but little discernible public disquiet at the loss of the 'Black Stump'".[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NEW STATE GOVT. OFFICE BLOCK IN SYDNEY". Western Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 28 September 1962. p. 8. Retrieved 30 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "NSW Government Printing Office, c1890". NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Woolley, Ken (1999). Ken Woolley: Selected and Current Works. Images Publishing. pp. 54–55.
  4. ↑ "NSW Coat of Arms, State Office Block". NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Costing more, ready later". The Canberra Times. 40 (11, 370). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 January 1966. p. 16. Retrieved 30 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Office blocks for Sydney". The Canberra Times. 42 (11, 797). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 September 1967. p. 3. Retrieved 30 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "DEMOLISHED: STATE OFFICE BLOCK". Sydney Living Museums. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Towering ambitions". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2002. Retrieved 30 July 2018.

Coordinates: 33°51′54″S 151°12′44″E / 33.8650°S 151.2121°E / -33.8650; 151.2121

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