Scraping the sky: Melbourne’s tallest buildings since 1871
EVER wondered which Melbourne building was the tallest throughout the past 150 years? Take a look back at the city’s rise into the sky and the record-breaking structures that claimed the title.
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MELBOURNE was the birthplace of Australia’s first skyscraper.
The APA Building was reputed to have been one of the world’s tallest when it was completed in 1889 — and it set Melbourne on a steady footing as a city on the rise.
We have more skyscrapers than any other city in the nation, and our upward growth has been gaining momentum every year since the gold rush.
Way back in 1871, the 30-metre high Kew mental asylum was the tallest building in the city — and it held the title for six years.
Since then, the race has been on to claim the crown as Melbourne’s tallest building, with 17 taking the title.
Take a look back at Melbourne’s record breaking buildings.
Kew Asylum
Kew Asylum is a decommissioned mental asylum that was the tallest building in Melbourne between 1871 and 1876 — standing at 30 metres high.
It’s a grand, palatial building that was part stately home, part prison — and was known as “a magnificent asylum for the insane”.
One of the largest asylums ever built in Australia, the people locked inside were labelled “lunatics”, “idiots” or “imbeciles” — although had poorly understood conditions such as epilepsy, depression or alcoholism.
It had a specially designed perimeter wall that looked low to the outside world, but had a trench on the inside so people couldn’t escape.
Kew Asylum had a difficult and chequered history, with overcrowding, mismanagement, lack of resources, poor sanitation and disease.
There were several inquiries throughout its 117 years of operation, including a Royal Commission, but it continued to operate throughout the 20th century.
The main building and surrounding grounds were sold by the state government in the 1988 and were redeveloped as residential properties.
Yorkshire Brewery Tower
In the 1876, the Yorkshire Brewery tower was the crown of Collingwood’s thriving brewing scene and the tallest building in Melbourne — standing at 34 metres.
Founded in 1858, the Yorkshire Brewery became a major brewing force, capturing prizes for its ale and porter at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition of 1888.
It was bought out by Carlton and United in 1909 and used as a standby plant, cooperage and malthouse, until it lay derelict for almost 20 years.
Heritage listed in 1990, the site has now been painstakingly restored as part of a $220 million residential development, featuring 358 apartments and townhouses, guest apartments, a rooftop terrace, library and gym.
Around $7 million was also spent to restore the heritage listed buildings to their original condition, including removing bricks for assessment and cleaning.
Fink’s Building
The Fink’s building, which stood at 276 Flinders Street was the tallest building from 1888-89 at ten stories.
The ornate, 43 metre high building was constructed during Melbourne’s boom years and served as an office block.
A massive fire in 1897, labelled the “Great Fire of Melbourne”, destroyed the entire block on Flinders Street and only the facade of the Fink’s Building was left standing.
It was considered such an iconic structure that it was rebuilt, but it was eventually ripped down in 1967.
The Australian Building
The Australian Building dominated the Melbourne skyline for around 40 years and was the tallest building from 1889 to 1932.
In 1889, this building was one of the highest in the world at 53 metres, and it was one of the first buildings to install elevators.
Elevators were such a novelty that many Melburnians visited the building just to use them, with a bit of help from the uniformed conductors.
In 1981 the building was torn down to make way for a four-storey retail complex, after the owners refused to pay the $2 million needed to ensure the building met the city fire code.
Manchester Unity Building
One of Melbourne’s most beautiful buildings, the neo-gothic Manchester Unity Building was the tallest in the city from 1932-1955, at 64 metres high.
It was the new headquarters of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a non-profit friendly society with a strong sense of tradition and the noble motto ‘Friendship, Love and Truth’.
The architect, Marcus Barlow was inspired by the Chicago Tribune Building in the United States.
It was labelled by the press as a “Wonder Building”, with ‘every modern convenience for tenants and their clients’.
Thankfully the magnificent building is still standing and has all of it’s original features, including the stunning mosaic-tiled floor inside the arcade.
Orica House
Orica House (originally known as ICI House) was built in 1955 and was the tallest building in Australia when completed, breaking Melbourne’s long standing 132-feet height limit.
The building’s design, by Sir Osborne McCutcheon, was closely modelled on all-glass high-rises from the United States, and it was the first international style skyscraper in Australia.
It made headlines soon after construction after panes of the coloured glass shattered and fell to the street below — blamed on an excessively hot summer.
It is one of the few post-war office buildings to be found on the Victorian Heritage Register, and the first to be added.
CRA Building
The tallest building in Melbourne between 1962 and 1969, the CRA building was Australia’s second tallest when completed, standing 99 metres high.
It housed the offices of Conzinc Riotinto of Australia and was the first skyscraper to be set back from the street, featuring a stylish plaza with palm trees.
The building was demolished in 1988 and replaced by the 50 storey 101 Collins Street development.
AMP Square
Built in 1969, the office building for AMP was the tallest until 1971, standing 113 metres high.
The building at 527-555 Bourke Street has a strong resemblance to the CBS tower in New York, and was designed by US architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
The National Trust says: “The complex is of architectural significance as a unique Australian example of a minimalist sculptural approach to the design of a large commercial project”.
Marland House
Marland House is the 32 level skyscraper at 570 Bourke Street that claimed the title of the city’s tallest building for one year in 1971-72.
Standing at 121 metres tall, the building has been used as an office building since in was constructed.
140 William Street
140 William Street (formerly BHP House) is a 41-storey steel, concrete and glass building on William Street, which was the tallest between 1972 and 1975.
Standing at 152 metres — or 41 floors — the building was intended to promote the use of steel in building construction and to set new national standards for the height of a steel-framed building.
It was also claimed to be the first office building in Australia to use a ‘total energy concept’ — the generation of its own electricity using BHP natural gas.
The building has heritage listing.
Optus Centre
The Optus Centre located at 367 Collins Street, stands at 153 metres tall and was completed in 1975.
It was one metre taller than 140 William Street and stole the title of tallest building from 1975 to 1977 — when it was overtaken by the 52-storey Nauru House.
The building is home to a breeding pair of peregrine falcons and during the breeding season, a display is set up in the foyer to enable the public to view the nest as the young hatch.
Nauru House
The land the building sits on was bought in 1972 by the government of the Republic of Nauru.
When construction began in 1972, the government of Nauru decided to raze two buildings with “high heritage value” in order to have the building face the desirable Collins Street.
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, a title it held only until 1978.
Following decades of mismanagement, corruption, and spiralling loans to General Electric, Nauru was forced to sell the building to pay loans,
ANZ Tower
ANZ tower, built at Collins Place, became the tallest building from 1978—86.
At 185 metres tall, the building is part of a two tower complex incorporating offices, a shopping centre and a roofed plaza.
Rialto Towers
At 251 metres, the Rialto Tower well and truly stole the title of the tallest building in Melbourne when it was completed in 1986.
Early tenants moved into the lower floors while the upper floors were still under construction in 1984, and it has been used predominantly as an office building since that time.
The Rialto Towers featured Melbourne’s first skyscraper public observation deck which operated between 1994 and 31 December 2009.
101 Collins Street
The CRA building was demolished to make way for 101 Collins Street, which was the tallest building in 1991.
The 57-storey building is still the 4th tallest in Australia when measured up to the tallest point — which is the top of the 60-metre spire.
120 Collins Street
120 Collins Street was completed in 1991 and remained the tallest in the city until the arrival on Eureka.
Built in a postmodern style, the building is similar in style to New York City’s grand art-deco buildings, such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building — with its granite facade and central mast.
The building is home to a number of high-profile tenants including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Rothschild, Standard & Poor’s, BlueScope Steel, Mitsubishi and Rio Tinto.
It was the tallest in Australia for fourteen years until it was surpassed by the Q1 building on the Gold Coast in 2005.
It remained the tallest building in Melbourne until being surpassed by the Eureka Tower in 2006, but it remains the third tallest building in the nation..
Eureka Tower
Eureka has been the tallest building in the city since 2006, standing at a whopping 297 metres tall.
Named after the Eureka Stockade, the rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854, the building’s gold crown represents the gold rush and a red stripe represents the blood spilt during the revolt.
Eureka Tower was the tallest residential building in the world when completed, and it is still has the most floors available for residential occupancy in the world.
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