The Commonwealth Trading Bank Building, also known as the Commonwealth Bank Building, is a historically significant building in the Sydney central business district,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, located on the corner of

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 sect ...

and

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.

. It was formerly the headquarters of the

Commonwealth Bank of Australia The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busine ...

, which for a significant part of the 20th century functioned as Australia's

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

History

The Commonwealth Bank was created in 1911 under order of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party ...

. Its head office was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Kirkpatrick, who was the cousin of the bank's governor. In August 1916, the building opened. The building was expanded with extensions designed by E.H. Henderson and F. Hill between 1929 and 1933 along Pitt Street, and in 1966 construction was begun on an annex facing Martin Place, completed in 1967. From 2012 the building was extensively refurbished. The 1960s extension was rebuilt, while much of the 1916 building and 1930s extension was stripped out and refurbished.Beasy - 120 Pitt Street
/ref> The building now houses retail space in the old banking hall.

Significance

The building was listed on the now defunct Register of the National Estate between 1978 until the register's abolition in 2007, and it is now listed on the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

local government heritage register. The building is described as a national symbol, "the first and very substantial physical manifestation of the powers that the Commonwealth Government acquired in the area of banking after the federation of the Australian colonies." The building is also regarded as significant for its design, combining

Grecian The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

Doric,

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and other influences. The image of the building itself became familiar to many people across Australia during the 20th century through its use on

money box ''Money Box'' is a weekly personal finance radio programme on BBC Radio 4, produced by BBC News, currently presented by Paul Lewis. The programme is broadcast live each Saturday in the half-hour slot just after midday. It is repeated on Sunday ev ...

es issued by the Commonwealth Bank to children starting from 1922. The money boxes were rectangular shape, roughly reflecting the dimensions of the bank building, and printed with the building's exterior. As a result, it is referred to as the "money box building". (The State Savings Bank building at 48 Martin Place was also featured on some later money boxes, and is also sometimes called the "money box building").

Gallery

CBA2.jpg,

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

above the entrance Commonwealth Trading Bank Building COS 2017.jpg, One of the part of the building become COS Fashion store

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Sydney Art Deco architecture in Sydney Commonwealth Bank Bank buildings in New South Wales Martin Place Bank headquarters in Australia Pitt Street, Sydney

History

Significance

Gallery

See also

References