UTS Building 1, also known as the UTS Tower, is prominent landmark on Broadway at the southern gateway to

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 ...

's central business district. Many of the administrative units of the University of Technology, Sydney are located across the building's 27 occupied floors. Completed in 1979 in the brutalist

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

from a 1968 plan by Michael Dysart of the NSW Government Architect's Office, the Tower was officially opened by NSW Premier

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman ...

Location

The UTS Tower is located at 15

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, south of the city's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, near to Central Railway station and opposite

One Central Park One Central Park is a mixed-use dual high-rise building located in the Sydney suburb of Chippendale in New South Wales, Australia. Developed as a joint venture between Frasers Property and Sekisui House, it was constructed by BESIX Group subsi ...

. It sits between the UTS Bon Marche Building and Terraces (home to radio station 2SER) and the newly constructed UTS Central (Building 2).

History

The original 1964 plan envisaged three towers of varying heights plus a podium. By the mid-1970s, with cutbacks in commonwealth funding, the original plan was reduced to the main Tower and smaller 11-level Building 2 next door. Construction of the building commenced in 1969 and lower floors were occupied from 1975. At its official opening in 1979 the Tower was declared the tallest educational facility in Australia. The adjoining Building 2 opened in 1980. Originally occupied by the NSW Institute of Technology, the Tower became part of the newly created University of Technology Sydney in January 1988.

Criticism of architectural style

The Tower has been described very colourfully and identified numerous times as Sydney's ugliest building, notably in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', and by architect

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

. Journalist and author

Mike Carlton Michael James Carlton, (born 31 January 1946) is an Australian former media commentator, radio host, television journalist, author and newspaper columnist. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney radio station 2UE with Peter ...

described it as "a menacing concrete monolith in an architectural genre that the old East German Stasi brought to perfection". The Tower's visibility in the central business district skyline has also been described positively, as marking Sydney as a

University town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

Proposed redesign

One scheme for renovation suggested by Chris Bosse from Laboratory for Visionary Architecture involved covering the building with a lightweight composite mesh textile, which would be able to store rainwater, generate electricity and cool down the building. However, such plans were not taken up by the university beyond a simple refurbishment, with one observer noting: "It may be that, for better or for worse, the Tower is finally valued as an essential part of the University’s identity."

Redevelopment of Building 2

As part of the UTS Campus Master Plan, Building 2 next to the Tower was demolished in 2016/2017 to make way for a vibrant new student hub and faculty space for the university.

UTS Central UTS Central, also known as Building 2, is the building housing the Faculty of Law and UTS Library at the University of Technology Sydney. It is the final building to be opened under the A$1 billion City Campus Master Plan. The building is desig ...

(Building 2) opened in August 2019 and features direct pedestrian connections with the UTS Tower across four levels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uts Tower Skyscrapers in Sydney University of Technology Sydney Brutalist architecture in Australia Government buildings completed in 1979 Office buildings completed in 1979 Office buildings in Sydney Skyscraper office buildings in Australia 1979 establishments in Australia