Westpac House

Westpac House
Westpac House in 2008
Former names
  • State Bank Building
  • Santos House
Etymology Westpac
General information
Status Complete
Type Commercial
Location Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Coordinates 34°55′29″S 138°35′54″E / 34.92472°S 138.59833°E / -34.92472; 138.59833Coordinates: 34°55′29″S 138°35′54″E / 34.92472°S 138.59833°E / -34.92472; 138.59833
Current tenants
Completed 1988
Owner
  • Abacus Property Group (50%);
  • Inheritance Capital Asset Management (50%)
Height 132 m (433 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 31
Floor area 3,170 square metres (34,100 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architecture firm Rod Roach Architecture
in association with Woods Bagot Adelaide
Developer State Bank of South Australia
Main contractor
References
[1]

Westpac House (formerly Santos House and State Bank Building) is the tallest building in the South Australian capital of Adelaide.[2] It is a 31-storey office tower, reaching 132 metres (433 ft) at its roof, with each level approximately four metres (thirteen feet) in height. It is set back from Currie Street near the intersection with King William Street, and is connected to two adjacent office buildings on Currie Street. It has four street frontages, and various pedestrian thoroughfares. The building was originally known as the State Bank building, before the 1991 State Bank Collapse, when it was purchased by Santos and renamed the Santos Building in February 1997. Since 2007, it has been known as Westpac House.

History

Opened in 1988 as the State Bank building, it became Santos House after the collapse of the State Bank in the early 1990s. Its major tenants have included Santos, PricewaterhouseCoopers, HWL Ebsworth, Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Australian Stock Exchange. In 2007, Santos moved their headquarters into a new building on Flinders Street, and Westpac acquired the naming rights to the building.

For the last 20 years, in the lead up to (and during) major holidays, the windows are selectively lit up in formation. These include a white cross for Easter and ANZAC Day, and a tree (in fluorescent green) for Christmas.

Abacus Property Group acquired a half interest in Santos House in October 2004 and the remaining 50 per cent in 2015;[1] and divested itself of 50 per cent to Inheritance Capital Asset Management in 2016.[3]

Being the tallest building in Adelaide, it was chosen as the venue for the stair race events at the 2007 World Police and Fire Games.

Between 11 and 15 May 2007, the 'Santos' sign on the building was removed and a single red 'W', the Westpac logo, had replaced it by 21 June.

In September 2017, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat database,[4] Westpac House was the 142nd tallest building in Australia.

Media related to Westpac House, Adelaide at Wikimedia Commons

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Westpac House". Abacus Property Group. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Westpac House". Emporis.com. Emporis. n.d. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Lenaghan, Nick (31 October 2016). "Boutique investor joins Abacus in Adelaide's tallest tower". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat database". Retrieved 13 September 2017.
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