25 Martin Place (formerly the MLC Centre) is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Designed by architect

Harry Seidler Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the B ...

, it stands at a height of 228 metres (748 ft) with 67 storeys, and remains one of his most definitive works. The building was awarded the

Sir John Sulman Medal The Sir John Sulman Medal is an architectural prize presented by the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects since 1932. The medal is sometimes referred to as the Sulman Award and now recognises excellence in public a ...

by the Australian Institute of Architects. Originally named the "MLC Centre" after

MLC Limited MLC was an Australian business that provides investments, insurance and superannuation solutions to corporate, institutional, and retail customers. Due to divestments in the early 21st century, there are now two businesses, with no ownership lin ...

, and still commonly referred to by that name, in 2021 the name was removed by its owner, Dexus, which now refers to the building simply by its street address of 25

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

Location and features

The building is a stark white,

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

column in an octagonal floorplan, with eight massive load-bearing columns in the corners that taper slightly towards the top. It is one of the world's tallest

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

buildings and was one of the tallest buildings in the world outside North America at the time of its completion. The MLC Centre was Sydney's tallest office building from 1977 to 1992. The MLC Centre is wholly owned by

Dexus Dexus is an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) managing an Australian property portfolio valued at $44.3 billion. Dexus invests in Australia and directly owns $18.4 billion of office, industrial and healthcare properties. The dir ...

, which acquired a half-stake in the property from the

Queensland Investment Corporation QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation) is a Government owned investment company owned by the Queensland Government. It was founded on 1 July 1991 pursuant to the ''Queensland Investment Corporation Act 1991'' to serve the long-term investment r ...

in June 2017 and bought out its former co-owner, the

GPT Group The GPT Group is a Real Estate Investment Trust (also known as an Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Sec ...

, in March 2019. The MLC Centre was also Australia's tallest building for nine years until losing the title to the

Rialto Towers Rialto (often The Rialto, or Rialto Towers) is a skyscraper located at 525 Collins Street, in the western side of the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere w ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1986. Occupants include the Sydney

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

of the

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Cognizant Cognizant is an American multinational information technology services and consulting company. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Cognizant is part of the NASDAQ-100 and trades under CTSH. It was founded as an in-hous ...

Servcorp Servcorp Limited is a multinational organisation that sells Serviced Offices, Virtual Offices, Coworking Spaces, Meeting Rooms, Community Packages, and IT Services to entrepreneurs, startups, SME's and large enterprises. It was established ...

, and former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

. The podium of the building includes a shopping centre and a 1,186-seat theatre, the Theatre Royal. The building underwent a $100m repair project which installed hybrid corrosion protection to the facade. The project retained the original appearance of the structure but remedied damage to exposed aggregate precast concrete facade panels caused by expansive corrosion of steel reinforcement. In June 2021, it was rebranded from the MLC Centre to 25 Martin Place.MLC Centre, Sydney gets a new name as part of a $170m transformation
''Shopping Centre News'' 3 June 2021

Site controversy

The building's construction was controversial, since it brought about the demolition in 1971-2 of the famous 19th century

Australia Hotel The Australia Hotel was a hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. From its opening in 1891 until its closure on 30 June 1971 and subsequent demolition, the hotel was considered "the best-known hotel in Australia", "the ...

, the Theatre Royal, and the splendid Commercial Travellers Club building on the corner of

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

, all of which formerly stood on the site, as well as much of the historic Rowe Street precinct.

In popular culture

The building was the centre of the storyline in the first episode of the Australian television drama,

Police Rescue ''Police Rescue'' is an Australian television series which originally aired on ABC TV between 1989 and 1996. It was produced by ABC and Southern Star Xanadu in association with the BBC. Apart from the 61 episodes, there was a 90-minute pi ...

, airing in 1991. Sergeant Steve "Mickey" McClintock (

Gary Sweet Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), '' Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''Bod ...

) is seen abseiling off the top of the building in the first half of the episode to persuade a man threatening to commit suicide not to jump.

Gallery

File:MLC Centre in Sydney.jpg, View from

Sydney Tower Sydney Tower is the tallest structure in Sydney, Australia, and the second-tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. It has also been known as ''Centrepoint Tower'', ''AMP Tower'', and colloquially as'' Flower Tower'', ''Glower To ...

File:Hotel Australia 1932.jpg, The Australia Hotel, 1932, demolished to make way for the MLC Centre. File:View of Martin Place from Castlereagh St, Sydney (NSW) (7417190710) (2).jpg,

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

in the early 1950s. The building on the corner to the left is the Commercial Travellers Club Building and the 'modern' (c1930) twin-wings of the Australia Hotel next to it were demolished in 1971-2 to make way for the MLC Centre. File:MLC Centre Podium 2017.jpg, Podium area File:MLC Centre on Martin Place.jpg, Commercial Travellers' Association building

References

External links

Official site

{{Architecture of Sydney , state=autocollapse Harry Seidler buildings Skyscrapers in Sydney Office buildings in Sydney Skyscraper office buildings in Australia Retail buildings in New South Wales Office buildings completed in 1977 Buildings and structures awarded the Sir John Sulman Medal Martin Place King Street, Sydney

Location and features

Site controversy

In popular culture

Gallery

See also

References

External links