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Sydney Tower is the tallest structure in
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, and the second-tallest
observation tower
An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...
in the
Southern Hemisphere. It has also been known as ''Centrepoint Tower'', ''AMP Tower'', and colloquially as'' Flower Tower'', ''Glower Tower'', and ''Big Poke''.
The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.
The tower stands above the
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...
(CBD), located on
Market Street Market Street may refer to:
*Market Street, Cambridge, England
*Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
* Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
*Market Street, Manchester, England
*Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
...
, between
Pitt and
Castlereagh Street
Castlereagh Street is a major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs in a north-to-south, in a one way direction only.
Description
Castlereagh Street's northern terminus is at the ...
s. It is accessible from the
Pitt Street Mall
Pitt Street Mall is the pedestrianised section of Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian state of New South Wales. Running for approximately 200 metres between Market Street and King Street, it is one block long ...
, Market Street or Castlereagh Street and sits above the
Westfield Sydney
Westfield Sydney is a large, upmarket shopping centre in the Sydney central business district. It is located underneath the Sydney Tower and is located on Pitt Street Mall, adjacent to the MidCity, Glasshouse and near The Strand Arcade.
Histor ...
(formerly Centrepoint) shopping centre. The tower is open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from adjoining suburbs.
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
's
Sky Tower Sky Tower, SkyTower, Skytower, or Sky Towers may refer to:
Buildings In Asia
* Higashiyama Sky Tower, Nagoya, Japan
* Marina Sky Towers in Dubai, UAE
* Sky Tower (Abu Dhabi) in Abu Dhabi, UAE
* in Kowloon, Hong Kong
* in Dubai, UAE
* Sky Tower ...
is taller but Sydney Tower's main
observation deck
An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed ...
is almost higher than the observation deck on Auckland's Sky Tower.
While the shopping centre at the base of the tower is run by the
Scentre Group
Scentre Group Limited is a shopping centre company with retail destinations operating under the Westfield brand in Australia and New Zealand. The corporation undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, proper ...
, the tower itself is occupied by Trippas White Group, which owns and operates Sydney Tower Dining, and
Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment a ...
, which owns and operates the Sydney Tower Eye observation deck and Oztrek simulated ride attraction.
History
Designed by Australian architect Donald Crone, the first plans for Sydney Tower were unveiled in March 1968. Construction of the office building started in 1970, and tower construction began in 1975. Prior to construction of the tower, the height limit in Sydney had been set at , to allow for the harbour's
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
s that were popular before the jet era.
[ It was developed by ]AMP #REDIRECT Amp #REDIRECT Amp
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{{Redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
, with
Concrete Constructions the main contractor.
Public access to the tower began in September 1981.
[About Sydney Tower](_blank)
from the Sydney Tower Eye website. Accessed 23 Sep 2020.) The total cost of construction was A$36
million.
In 1998, the addition of a
lightning rod
A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducte ...
to the top of spire extended the tower's overall height from 305 metres to , which is
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
.
While AMP managed the Centrepoint shopping centre, the tower was officially referred to as the AMP Tower. After the
Westfield Group
Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...
took over ownership of Centrepoint in December 2001, the name was changed to Sydney Tower.
In 2009, the base building was closed and stripped for a major refurbishment. This involved the connection of the shopping centre to other arcades and a complete upgrade of all the sites. The shopping centre was progressively reopened from 2010 and was renamed
Westfield Sydney
Westfield Sydney is a large, upmarket shopping centre in the Sydney central business district. It is located underneath the Sydney Tower and is located on Pitt Street Mall, adjacent to the MidCity, Glasshouse and near The Strand Arcade.
Histor ...
. In June 2011 the AMP banner was removed by helicopter from the tower and replaced by a large illuminated Westfield logo.
In 2011,
Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment a ...
acquired the rights to operate the observation deck, renaming the attraction the Sydney Tower Eye.
Structure
Sections
Four sections of the tower are open to the public, three being occupied by Sydney Tower Dining. 360 Bar and Dining, which offers revolving views of the Sydney skyline, is located on level one of the Sydney Tower. Sydney Tower Buffet, a contemporary self-select restaurant, is on the tower's second level. Studio, located on level three can cater for cocktail functions for 200 people and 156 sit-down guests.
The observation deck, currently called the Sydney Tower Eye, is located on level four of Sydney Tower. To access this level, visitors can buy a pass from the operating company or at the gate. The pass allows access to other Sydney attractions including
Wild Life Sydney
Wild Life Sydney Zoo (formerly Sydney Wildlife World) is a wildlife park in the Darling Harbour precinct, on the western edge of the Sydney central business district, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in September 2006, the zoo is l ...
and the
Sydney Aquarium
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium (formerly Sydney Aquarium) is a public aquarium
A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens fo ...
.
The Sydney Tower Eye is located above ground level. It has a fully enclosed viewing platform featuring 360-degree views of the city and surrounding areas.
This floor also houses a small gift shop,
multilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
s
and a readout that displays data about the wind speed, direction, sway amplitude, and other statistics of the tower. On 23 September 2011, a
4D cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
* ...
was opened on the fourth floor of the arcade, playing a film with footage from various locations in Sydney. The theatre is the first of its kind in Australia; in-theatre effects include wind, bubbles, and fire.
Skywalk is an open-air glass-floored platform encircling the Sydney Tower Eye at a height of above ground level.
The viewing platform extends over the edge of the main structure of the deck. It was opened on 18 October 2005, cost
A$3.75 million to construct, took four years to design and two months to build. This platform is only accessible as part of planned and booked tours.
Details
The golden turret near the top of the tower has a maximum capacity of 960 people. Travel to the observation deck is by three high speed
double-deck lifts, each with a capacity of 8 to 10 people. The lifts travel at full, half or quarter speed, depending on wind conditions. At full speed the lifts reach the deck in 45 seconds.
Cultural events
Leading up to the
Sydney 2000 Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, the tower was decorated with sculptures by Australian artist Dominique Sutton (an athlete rising from starting blocks, a gymnast performing a handstand, and a wheelchair basketball player passing the ball) which were positioned above the main body of the tower and in some cases overhung the edges. These sculptures were removed in 2003 and relocated to
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...
at
Homebush Bay
Homebush Bay is a bay on the south bank of the Parramatta River, in the west of Sydney, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official suburb of Sydney, a ...
. The figures were placed atop the tower using an
S-64 Aircrane heavy lift helicopter known as
"Elvis".
On several occasions, the tower has been used to launch
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
or it has been illuminated with coloured lights as part of various celebrations in Sydney, such as New Year's Eve or during the Olympics in 2000.
Each year the Sydney Tower Stair Challenge comprises the challenge of running up 1,504 stairs from
Pitt Street Mall
Pitt Street Mall is the pedestrianised section of Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian state of New South Wales. Running for approximately 200 metres between Market Street and King Street, it is one block long ...
to the Observation Deck.
[Sydney Tower Run Up]
(from the 'Supersprint' website) The event is to raise money for the
Cancer Council, and the two winners become eligible to compete in the
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
Run-up.
[ However, the event was cancelled in both 2011 and 2012.
]
Incidents
On 8 March 2018, the Skywalk was closed for five weeks following the suicide of a 21-year-old woman who removed her safety harness and leapt from the tower while on a tour. The Skywalk reopened on 12 April 2018, after conducting a probe into the incident and the tower having upgraded the safety equipment.
The same year, a man fell from the observation deck and died.
Engineering heritage award
The tower received an Engineering Heritage Plaque from Engineers Australia
Engineers Australia (EA) is an Australian professional body and not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineering for the benefit of the community. Engineers Australia is Australia's recognized org ...
as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.
In popular culture
*The tower appeared in the 1990 Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
animated film ''The Rescuers Down Under
''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 29th Disney animated feature film and the second movie to be produced during the Disney Ren ...
'' and the 2003 Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
animated film ''Finding Nemo
''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was writ ...
''.
*In the film '' Mission: Impossible 2'', the tower is seen in several shots, usually shown whenever the CBD of Sydney appears.
*The tower was featured in the 1995 film '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie'', where it was used as the Angel Grove Observatory. A CGI simulation of the tower was used when it became a weapon for the main villain, Ivan Ooze in the film's climactic battle.Supernova
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...
''.
*The tower is demolished in the 2017 short film'' Waltzing Tilda''.
Gallery
File:The Westfield Centrepoint Tower (6619289471).jpg, The turret of the tower, with current Westfield branding
File:Speaker's adventure - Sydney Tower.jpg, External bracing on the tower
File:Sydney tower sunset.jpg, The tower at sunset
File:(1)Market Street Sydney.jpg, The Sydney Tower seen from Market Street Market Street may refer to:
*Market Street, Cambridge, England
*Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
* Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
*Market Street, Manchester, England
*Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
...
, 1985
File:Sydney Tower view from Pitt St mall - panoramio.jpg, Sydney Tower from Pitt Street
Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sec ...
File:Sydney Tower Revolving Restauarant.jpg, Revolving restaurant
A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...
See also
* List of tallest towers in the world
Several extant building fulfill the engineering definition of a tower: "a tall human structure, always taller than it is wide, for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are ''self-supporting' ...
* Hyperboloid structure
Hyperboloid structures are architectural structures designed using a hyperboloid in one sheet. Often these are tall structures, such as towers, where the hyperboloid geometry's structural strength is used to support an object high above the gro ...
** List of hyperboloid structures
This page is a list of hyperboloid structures. These were first applied in architecture by Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov (1853–1939). Shukhov built his first example as a water tower (hyperbolic shell) for the 1896 All-Russian Exposition. ...
References
Further reading
* Saiful H. Esa: ''Sydney Tower at Centrepoint, Sydney'', University of New South Wales, 1991.
* A. Wargon, E. Smith, A. Davids: ''Sydney Tower Design for Comfort and Strength'', in: '' National Structural Engineering Conference'', 1990, .
* Alexander Wargon: ''Sydney Tower at Centrepoint (Australia)'', in: IBASE STRUCTURES C-34/85 (Telecommunication Towers), Mai 1985, S. 24–27, ISSN 0377-7286.
here online
* B. J. Vickery, Alan Garnett Davenport: ''An Investigation of the Behaviour in Wind of the Proposed Centrepoint Tower in Sydney, Australia'', University of Western Ontario. Faculty of Engineering Science 1970.
* John Steven Gero, Wargon, Chapman and Associates: ''Preliminary Report on the Model Investigation of the Centrepoint Tower for the A.M.P.'', Department of Architectural Science, University of Sydney, 1969, .
External links
*
Sydney Tower Eye official website
* – Includes photos taken during construction.
''Sydney Tower gets "re-badged"''
– blog with historic images and newspaper articles of Sydney Tower
*
{{Architecture of Sydney, state=autocollapse
Towers completed in 1981
Hyperboloid structures
Merlin Entertainments Group
Towers with revolving restaurants
Skyscrapers in Sydney
Towers in Australia
Restaurants in New South Wales
Tourist attractions in Sydney
1981 establishments in Australia
Skyscraper office buildings in Australia
Office buildings in Sydney
Observation towers in Australia
Market Street, Sydney
Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers
Westfield Group