Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office, 65 Martin Place, Sydney Heritage Management Plan 2020
3.0Historical Context
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Lot 1 of DP 444499; Lot 1 of DP 32720; Lot 1 of DP 33919 (Parish of St James, County of Cumberland)
Original Owner
Commonwealth of AustraliaReserve Bank of Australia
Present Owner
Reserve Bank of Australia
Local Government Area
City of Sydney
Construction Dates
1959-64, original building1976-1980, south additions No. 2 site1991-1996, re-cladding and internal refurbishment
Architect
Commonwealth Department of Works Banks and Special Projects Branch
Builder
EA Watts Pty Limited: original construction and 1976-80 and 1991-96 construction phases.
Heritage Status
Commonwealth Heritage List (Place ID No. 105456) Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 (Schedule 5, Item No. I1897) NSW State Heritage Inventory Online Database (No. 2423917) Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) Register of Significant Architecture in NSW (Reg No. 4702937)
Summary Description
The RBA Head Office building is a commercial office building of 25-storeys, including 3 basement levels, of Post War International Modernist Style with three prominent street frontages, utilising high quality external and internal materials. The tower structure has its primary frontage to Martin Place, and sits on a four-storey podium divided into two upper floors and two floors of full height recessed glazing below, enclosing a double volume entry foyer and adjoining public areas. The tower over is steel framed and clad with grey granite fixed over the original marble facings, with aluminium window sections and black granite column trims.Despite later enlargement of the tower to the south and considerable internal modification, the building retains its original architectural character. The ground floor entrance foyer retains examples of original fabric and finishes.
Summary Statement of Cultural Significance
The Reserve Bank Head Office, Martin Place Sydney is a significant example of the work of the Commonwealth Department of Works built in the early 1960s in an International Modernist style. It was built to house the specific functional requirements of the newly created Reserve Bank of Australia.It has strong historic associations with Dr HC Coombs and the early establishment of the Bank, as well as with the development of Australian economic policy and banking practice throughout the second half of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century.It has strong aesthetic values in its overall design and execution for the quality of its facades and public spaces, the use of high quality materials and in its contribution as a building element within the significant streetscapes of Macquarie Street and Martin Place.
Identified Commonwealth Heritage values
The Reserve Bank Head Office, Martin Place Sydney embodies the following historic heritage values: Criterion A: Processes Criterion B: Rarity Criterion D: Characteristic values Criterion E: Aesthetic characteristics Criterion F: Technical achievement Criterion G: Social value Criterion H: Significant people
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Background
The Reserve Bank of Australia Workplace Department commissioned the review and upgrading of its Heritage Management Plan for the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building in March 2019 in keeping with its requirements under Section 341X(2) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC Act), as amended. The table included in Section 11.1 of this Heritage Management Plan identifies where specific requirements of Schedule 7A (Regulation 10.03B) of the EPBC Act is addressed in this report.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is obliged, as a Commonwealth agency, to protect Commonwealth Heritage values demonstrated by properties in its ownership. The Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building at 65 Martin Place Sydney was included on the Commonwealth Heritage List in June 2004 as an ‘Included Place’ (Place ID: 105456) for demonstrating the following Commonwealth Heritage values:
Criterion A (Processes);
Criterion B (Rarity);
Criterion D (Characteristic values);
Criterion E (Aesthetic characteristics);
Criterion F (Technical achievement);
Criterion G (Social value); and
Criterion H (Significant people).
This Heritage Management Plan has been adopted by the Reserve Bank of Australia to guide conservation and heritage management of its Head Office building located at 65 Martin Place Sydney. This Heritage Management Plan should be read in conjunction with the Heritage Strategy 2019-2021 prepared for the Reserve Bank of Australia which sets out the obligations of the Reserve Bank under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
2.2 The Site
The Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office, located at 65 Martin Place, comprises three parcels of land, shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, and is described in documents held by the NSW Land Registry Services as:
Lot 1 of Deposited Plan 444499 (Parish of St James, County of Cumberland);
Lot 1 of Deposited Plan 32720 (Parish of St James, County of Cumberland); and
Lot 1 of Deposited Plan 33919 (Parish of St James, County of Cumberland).
The building defines the south side of Martin Place between Phillip and Macquarie Streets, and is bounded by Macquarie Street to the east, Martin Place to the north and Phillip Street to the west. The building is a prominent element in all three streets. Its southern boundary adjoins the boundary of the Law Society of NSW building and Windeyer Chambers.
The building is located on the eastern edge of the Sydney Central Business District. The early twentieth buildings to the west of Macquarie Street are progressively being demolished and replaced with high rise commercial buildings.
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Figure 1 - Plan showing the location of the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building, located at 65 Martin Place Sydney.
The main objective of this Heritage Management Plan is generally to provide a practical working document to guide future works or changes to the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building to ensure the building’s identified Commonwealth Heritage values are adequately identified, protected and conserved. This heritage management plan aims to:
Provide an understanding of the historic development of the place, and a description of the physical fabric and its condition.
Identify the Commonwealth Heritage values of the place against the prescribed Commonwealth Heritage criteria.
Set out policies to ensure the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office is managed and interpreted in accordance with Commonwealth Heritage management principles defined by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, as amended.
Address the Bank’s obligations under Regulation 10.03b (Schedules 7A - Management Plans for Commonwealth Places and Schedule 7B – Commonwealth Heritage management principles) of the EPBC Act 1999, as amended.
2.4 Methodology
This report was prepared to, in part, satisfy the obligations of the Reserve Bank of Australia under Section 341S of the EPBC Act 1999, as amended. The methodology and format of this report are generally consistent with that set out in the following documents:
The Conservation Plan by Dr James Semple Kerr (7th Edition, 2013) published by the National Trust of Australia (NSW).
Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (The Burra Charter) 2013.
Management Plans for Places on the Commonwealth Heritage List: a guide for agencies. Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage, November 2006.
Working Together: Managing Commonwealth Heritage Places. Commonwealth of Australia 2019.
Sections of this report have been taken verbatim from the following report prepared for the Reserve Bank of Australia:
NBRS+Partners. Heritage Management Plan: The Reserve Bank of Australia 65 Martin Place Sydney NSW 2000. 26 October 2012 Unpublished report prepared for the Reserve Bank of Australia.
2.5 Terminology
The terms ‘Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building’, ‘Reserve Bank building’, ‘RBA building’ and ‘Head Office building’, and the place, are used interchangeably throughout this report to describe the building located at 65 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000.
The terms fabric, place, preservation, reconstruction, restoration, adaptation and conservation used throughout this report have the meaning given to them in Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter) 2013. The methodology used in the preparation of this report generally follows that recommended as best-practice by Australia ICOMOS (see Figure 3).
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Figure 3 - Diagram showing the sequence of steps in planning and managing a place of cultural significance, contained in The Burra Charter, and underpinning this Conservation Management Plan methodology.
The RBA Head Office building was inspected on various dates in 2018 and 2019 to confirm the location and condition of building fabric. Inspections were carried out while the building was occupied and operational. Inspections were limited to visual observations, carried out from ground level or internal floor level. Inspections were general in nature, having been carried out without physical intervention or removal of building fabric.
No European or Aboriginal archaeological assessment was undertaken as part of this report. The site of the Head Office has been assessed as an ‘Area of no archaeological potential’ under the Archaeological Zoning Plan for Central Sydney-1992, prepared by Siobhan Lavelle and Dana Mider for the Sydney City Council.
Artworks, apart from fixed wall murals and sculptures, and numismatics collections are not addressed specifically in this Heritage Management Plan.
2.7 Authorship
The following members of NBRSARCHITECTURE participated in the production of this report:
The history contained in this report was originally researched and written in 2001 by Ms Michelle Richmond, Historian formerly of NBRSARCHITECTURE, for an earlier version of this Heritage Management Plan. That history has been edited, and additional information inserted by Pamela Jeffery. Photographs and illustrations throughout this report were taken or prepared by NBRSARCHITECTURE unless otherwise noted.
2.8 Sources
The main documentary sources consulted in the research for this report are listed below. A complete Bibliography is contained in Section 10.0 of this report.
Reserve Bank of Australia Archives.
National Archives of Australia.
State Archives.
State Library of New South Wales.
NSW Land Registry Services.
Sydney Water Archives.
Sydney City Archives.
2.9 Acknowledgments
The Author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following people in the preparation of this report:
Ms Rebecca Dowell, Workspace Lead, RBA Workspace Services, RBA Workplace Department (Sydney).
Mr Bruce Harries, Department Head, RBA Workplace Department (Sydney).
The Manager and Archives Staff; Regulatory, Framework and Heritage Section.
The Bank’s Curators, Public Access & Education Section, Information Department.
3.0 Historical Context
3.1 Introduction
The following section provides a historical context to examine the development of the site of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and determine the heritage significance of the place. Refer to Section 11.3.1 for an outline history of the development of the site prior to the construction of the Reserve Bank of Australia Head office building.
Text in both Section 3.0 and Section 11.3 was taken from an earlier Conservation Management Plan prepared by NBRSARCHITECTURE (2001). It was researched and written, including the transfer of all citations, by Ms Michelle Richmond, Historian, formerly of NBRSARCHITECTURE. Pam Jeffery of NBRSARCHITECTURE has reviewed and expanded that history to include changes to the site that have occurred since 2001.
3.2 A Central Banking System and the Reserve Bank of Australia
An Australian central banking function was established in 1911 as one of the functions of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.[1] By the 1950s the Federal Government had decided to remove the central banking section from the control of the Commonwealth Bank and to establish a separate agency similar to economic structures in other countries.
Initial briefing by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia of their intention to proceed with the design of a Reserve Bank building took place in Sydney on 16th September 1957. The site in Sydney was selected and negotiations for the purchase from the Sydney City Council were commenced.
The Reserve Bank of Australia was created by an Act of Parliament in 1959 with its broad purpose being to work for the economic prosperity and welfare of the people of Australia.[2] The new Bank was to be controlled by a Board, its members determined by the government of the day, but appointed by the Governor. At the time of the creation of the Bank, the board consisted of a Governor (who also acted as the chairman of the board), a Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the Commonwealth Treasury and seven other appointed members. Dr HC Coombs was appointed the first Governor of the newly created Reserve Bank of Australia. The Reserve Bank of Australia commenced operations on 14th January 1960.
Its stated objectives were to ensure that monetary banking policy was directed to the greatest advantage of the people of Australia, that the Australian currency was stable and that full employment was maintained.
Splitting the Commonwealth Bank and creating the Reserve Bank required a huge administrative re-organisation. The Reserve Bank Act 1959 reinforced the perception of a separate bank in the community’s eyes by requiring the Bank to occupy its own premises. This condition only strictly applied to the head office (Sydney) and it was assumed that at other places the Bank would share premises with the Commonwealth Bank. However Dr Coombs decided that in order to maintain a prominent profile, separate buildings would be constructed in each of the state capitals and at Canberra. In addition, the Bank would have offices in Launceston, Port Moresby, New York and London.
The Reserve Bank as a separate identity was born at a time when the economy was booming, trade flourishing and other conditions that resulted in prosperity. Australians had a positive view of the future of their country. For the newly created Bank, the decade of the 1960s was tremendously significant in creating an International image for the Australian economy. The buildings constructed throughout Australia by the Bank at that time, reflected a confidence in things Australian and in its future. The buildings were statements displaying the corporate pride of the Bank and the vital economic role it aspired to play in the Nation.
Sydney was the first project in this significant building program. A site for the new head office building was purchased from the Council of the City of Sydney in Martin Place in December 1958. Dr Coombs was determined that the head office would be an impressive structure, built to reflect the bank’s prestige and leadership of the financial system. It was to be the flagship building, proudly built from largely Australian materials.
The Head Office building was completed in 1964 but did not open for business until the 14th January 1965. Built of polished marble and glass with granite paved public spaces[3], the building was dubbed the “Marble and Gold Palace”. Public criticism of Commonwealth expenditure on Public Works was largely a result of a ‘Credit Squeeze’ that coincided with Dr Coombs’ building programme.
Planning for the construction of the Bank’s new buildings in the other capital cities also occurred during this time and the suite of buildings form a cohesive group of designs reflecting a common design philosophy. Also contemporary with the building and complimentary to the Bank’s design aesthetic was the Commonwealth Centre at Chifley Square, now demolished.
The nature of the work of the Reserve Bank of Australia began to change significantly during the 1980s. The agents for change came from a number of different directions including the introduction of new technology, such as mechanisms for wrapping coins and counting notes. In 1983, deregulation of the Australian dollar eliminated the Bank’s Exchange Control function. The findings of two government enquiries further changed the Bank’s structure[4]. Many of the original functions of the Bank also altered significantly resulting in a reduction in staff numbers[5].
3.3 Construction of the Head Office Building
The Reserve Bank of Australia Head office building was designed and documented by the Special Projects Branch of the Commonwealth Department of Housing and Construction. The design team included CD Osborne, and RM Ure, GA Rowe and FJ Crocker from the Sydney Branch. The Department was authorised to engage private architects or consultants to provide specialist knowledge or expertise, and in this instance consulted Professor Harry Ingham Ashworth, Professor of Architecture at the University of Sydney for advice in relation to the Head office building.
The Head Office was located in Hawthorn (Vic), and included three divisions – Architectural, Engineering and Management Services, with branch offices in each capital city and several regional cities. CD Osbourne headed the Architectural Division in Melbourne however the Sydney Branch Director of Works was responsible for approving the design and documentation of the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building while Head Office architects advised on the its design as a major project. The new Reserve Bank head office building was designed by the Commonwealth Department of Works, Bank and Special Projects Division (Sydney) in 1959[6] under the direction of a Design Committee which included the following members:
C McGrowther, Superintendent of Reserve Bank Premises
HI Ashworth, Consulting Architect (Sydney University)
CD Osborne, Director of Architecture - Dept of Works
RM Ure, Chief of Preliminary Planning - Dept of Works
FC Crocker, Architect in Charge - Bank Section - Dept of Works
GA Rowe, Supervising Architect - Bank Section - Dept of Works
The Sydney Branch was also responsible for the documentation of interior spaces and finishes in consultation with Frederick Ward, Industrial Designer who had previously advised on buildings at the Australian National University (Canberra).
Site covenants required the facades of the building to be of stone and other complimentary materials and the building to have a minimum height of 150 feet with a setback to Martin Place of 16 feet above a height of 60 feet from Macquarie Street. Three members of the Design Committee toured central banking facilities overseas to inform early design studies prepared in 1957. Detailed planning and documentation commenced in January 1959 with submissions to the Sydney Height of Buildings Advisory Panel in March and to the Governor and Board of the Commonwealth Bank in April[7]. EA. Watts Pty Ltd was awarded the tender to construct the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building in 1962. The building was completed in 1964 ready for occupation in January 1965.
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width:425.15pt; margin-left:25.2pt; border-collapse:collapse"><tbody><tr><td style="width:199.5pt; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="BodyText" style="margin-left:0pt; text-align:right; page-break-after:avoid"><img src="image.008.jpeg" width="265" height="194" alt="L51306"></p><p class="Caption" style="margin-left:0pt; text-align:justify"><a id="_Toc480549487"></a><a id="_Toc536113184"></a><a id="_Toc34323749"><span>Figure 4 – View of the steel framed construction of the Reserve Bank of Australia Head office building, c1962. </span><span></span><span>Source: National Archives of Australia.</span></a></p></td><td colspan="2" style="width:204.05pt; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="BodyText" style="margin-left:0pt; page-break-after:avoid"><img src="image.009.jpeg" width="207" height="256" alt=""></p><p class="Caption" style="margin-left:0pt; text-align:justify"><a id="_Toc480549492"></a><a id="_Toc536113189"></a><a id="_Toc34323750"><span>Figure 5 - View of the south and west elevations during construction c1962.</span><span> </span><span>Source: National Archives of Australia</span></a></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="width:203.6pt; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="BodyText" style="margin-left:0pt; text-align:right; page-break-after:avoid"><img src="image.010.jpeg" width="150" height="269" alt=""></p><p class="Caption" style="margin-left:0pt; text-align:justify"><a id="_Toc480549489"></a><a id="_Toc536113186"></a><a id="_Toc34323751"><span>Figure 6 -View of the northwest corner of the RBA Head Office showing the original marble panels being installed to the north and west elevations, c1962.</span><span> </span><span>Source: National Archives of Australia.</span></a></p></td><td style="width:199.95pt; padding-right:5.4pt; padding-left:5.4pt; vertical-align:top"><p class="BodyText" style="margin-left:0pt; page-break-after:avoid"><img src="image.011.jpeg" width="202" height="269" alt="Reserve bank 1964"></p><p class="Caption" style="margin-left:0pt"><a id="_Toc339012907"></a><a id="_Toc34323752"><span>Figure 7 – View of the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office Sydney, looking south east from the Phillip Street corner, c1964.</span></a></p><p class="Caption" style="margin-left:0pt"><span>Source: Australian Archive</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:0pt"><td style="width:210.3pt"></td><td style="width:4.1pt"></td><td style="width:210.75pt"></td></tr></tbody></table>
3.4 Architectural Design Intent
The Reserve Bank Head Office was constructed in Sydney to provide appropriate accommodation for a number of departments of the Bank and to house its functions as the principal Central Banking agency. The first Governor of the Bank, Dr HC Coombs had specific ideas for both the operations of the new agency and its corporate image. These ideals were implemented in a series of buildings across the nation and reached their highest expression in the Sydney head office building.
A contemporary design was requested because it felt that a Central Bank should develop with growing knowledge and a changing institutional structure and adapt its policies and techniques to the changing needs of the community within which it works.
The design of the building was influenced by the national and civic significance of the building as well as normal aesthetic considerations. In its construction, materials and equipment of Australian origin have been used wherever possible.[8]
The design report accompanying the early sketch designs set out the architectural design intention and general aesthetic considerations underpinning the design in the following terms:
From initial directions issued by the Commonwealth Bank, the intention was to produce a solution that was functionally acceptable and which included aspects of design that might enhance the civic dignity of Martin Place and the axial development of site areas to the east of Macquarie Street.
The form of the proposed building has been progressively determined by the detail area requirements at respective floor levels.
The surface texture of the tower mass is basically the expression of structure and functional mullions. Both structural columns and mullions are of similar proportions being 2 feet deep by 13 inches[9] repeating all external facades as a uniform vertical motif. The spandrel areas between mullions and the heads and sills of windows are comparatively flush in surface with the facings on the columns, while deep set windows provide adequate solar protection and give emphasis to the voids. The resultant texture is static in form and emphasises neither horizontal nor vertical movement. Due to thermal problems and the need to provide closely sub-divided office areas on the western perimeter, windows of reduced area are proposed on this facade, protected by horizontal cantilevered sun hoods. The skyline has been designed as a regular termination of the tower block by accommodating miscellaneous tank rooms, cooling towers, etc. at broken levels within the facade envelope.[10]
The construction method and external appearance of the RBA building was a departure from other bank buildings lining Martin Place. Those dating from before 1945 were traditionally load bearing masonry construction, implicitly expressing stability and solidity, whereas the Reserve Bank was designed in the International Modernism architectural style with an emphasis on openness and transparency. The expansive glass windows at ground floor level were selected to express transparency and openness and reflect the principles on which the Bank itself would operate.
For employees of the Bank, the organisation was a prestigious and desirable place to work. The Bank was a generous employer by the standards of the day. Staff had their own health fund, superannuation fund and their own workers union and credit union with the Commonwealth Bank. The Bank had a strong staff hierarchy and senior positions in the structure were important with considerable community status.
This status is demonstrated in physical terms by the design of executive and staff areas in the head office building in Sydney as it is in other branches of the Bank in other capital cities.
During the 1960s, the Bank buildings were known to provide more extensive staff facilities compared with other contemporary buildings. In Sydney these facilities consisted of the cafeteria, executive and Board dining rooms, the staff lounge, the staff library, a medical suite, squash courts and associated amenities, an auditorium and an observation deck on the 20th level for the use of staff and ex staff.
Providing recreation and other facilities for the staff was considered important to support the corporate culture of the time. In the 1960s, most Bank staff joined the organisation as young people and the men would certainly have expected to remain with the Bank for the remainder of their working lives. Vacancies in senior management positions were generally filled from within the Bank structure. Strong social bonds were fostered in this environment and these were fostered by the Bank in the availability and use of facilities within the building. Although a number of city buildings constructed in the 1960s, such as QANTAS House, the Goodsell Building and the NSW State Office Block, contained a range of staff facilities including staff dining rooms and cafeterias[11], the Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office additionally included a Medical Centre, Squash Courts, and a Firing Range used for the training of security guards.
As times have changed the use and necessity for many of these facilities within a building with a reduced workforce has diminished and the functions and usage patterns of the special facilities has changed dramatically. This change in functional requirements has been reinforced by changes in corporate culture. Increasing flexibility within organizations, coupled with focus on competitive practice has altered the attitudes and structure of the workplace and its relationships.
Demand for these specialised facilities within the Bank has reduced to the point where their retention is no longer supported. These spaces are now identified as valuable for their potential to provide additional workplace accommodation and flexibility rather than as specialised areas of restricted contribution essential to the organisation’s principal objectives.
3.5 Consolidation of Banking Services and additions to the Building
In early 1964 the Reserve Bank purchased “Washington House”[12], a three-storey commercial and residential building that adjoined the eastern section of its southern boundary for 160,000 pounds. Documents indicate the RBA intended demolish the building and construct an alternative access to the basement areas to improve cash delivery services within the original Head Office building, and preliminary plans for a new vehicular entrance from the Macquarie Street side were prepared.
Following the acquisition of a second building, “Federation House” in 1967, the Bank commissioned the Commonwealth Department of Works to document additions to the south side of the Head Office building [13]. The RBA Governor formally approved the south extension located on Number 2 Site on 18th March 1975. Demolition of both Washington House and Federation House was completed by 5th June 1975.
Works involved substantial additions on each floor to incorporate the adjacent site to the south. The effect of the changes was to increase the depth of the building by nearly one third increasing its presence on both Macquarie Street and Phillip Street (See Figure 8) and to provide additional service areas at basement and podium levels were also provided.
The works were designed to maintain the rhythm of the original window and stone façade on the east and west elevations, giving the Reserve Bank an increased presence in Macquarie Street and Phillip Street without increasing the height of the building.
Drawing showing extension
Figure 8 – Diagram showing the Phillip Street elevation. The shaded area indicates the location of the addition constructed in the late 1970s, and the dedicated services/plant spaces Note the addition accommodating the services finished at Level 7.
Source: Currency No. 5 Vol 17 May 1976 p12
3.6 Building Refurbishment
By the late 1980s it was apparent the original Wombeyan marble cladding of the external facades was deteriorating due to a combination of weathering and pollution, and asbestos was detected throughout the building. Works began on an extensive program to repair the façade and internal refurbishment works were to upgrade staff facilities to meet standard office requirements to allow the Bank to continue operating from the site.[14]
The repair process of over-cladding the exterior of the building commenced in November 1993 using both Australian and Italian stone. The system was designed to ensure the rhythm of the original fenestration was retained. New stone was attached to aluminium trusses bolted to the inner frame of the building with a gap to allow for water to drain between the two skins.
Several subsequent changes were made to the upper levels of the elevations of the Head Office after 2001 to reflect changes in internal function. These changes were again designed to have minimal impact on the presentation of the building to Martin Place and Macquarie Street.
Major internal changes carried out between 2001 and 2003 included the removal of two apartments, two squash courts, the relocation of risers and service areas, and the re-configuration of internal office areas generally. Several floors[15] were leased to separate organisations resulting in the refurbishment of office and service areas to suit their individual requirements.
Works carried out since 2005 have addressed statutory compliance issues, access to premises requirements, security requirements and replacement of equipment at the end of its operational life, for example, replacement of lift cars.
3.7 Associated Individuals
3.7.1 Herbert Cole Coombs (1906-1997)
HC Coombs was born in Kalamunda, WA, in 1906. He attended Perth Modern School working as a teacher and on the wharves to pay to attend university where graduated with first-class honours in economics, and winning the Hackett Studentship enabling him to study overseas. Following the completion of his MA, he proceeded to London School of Economics to undertake a thesis on central banking and was awarded a PhD in 1933, returning to his teaching career in Perth in 1934.
In 1935 Coombs moved to Sydney, initially working for the Commonwealth Bank and later transferring to the Commonwealth Treasury in 1939, appointed Director of Rationing in1942 and in 1943 was appointed Director-General of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction by Ben Chifley.
Coombs was appointed the Governor of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on 1st January 1949. In 1959 the Australian Government passed the Reserve Bank of Australia Act separating central bank’s operations from the trading and savings bank functions of the Commonwealth Bank. HC (Nugget) Coombs was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1959, retiring in 1968.
Following his retirement from the RBA, Dr Coombs served as the Chancellor of the Australian National University between 1968 and 1976, and was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Resources and Environmental Studies at the ANU in 1973. [16] He also served as Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Affairs (1968-1976) and Chairman of the Council for the Arts (1968-1974). [17]
3.7.2 Bim Hilder
The expansive wall enrichment in the main entrance foyer was designed and installed by local artist Bim Hilder. It is made up of many separate small parts of beaten copper and bronze. It incorporates a 150mm piece of quartz crystal uncovered by geologist Ben Flounders in South Australia’s Corunna Hills together with other semi-precious stones.
Vernon Arthur (Bim) Hilder (1909-1990) was born at Parramatta, NSW, the son of watercolourist JJ (Jesse) Hilder and Phyllis Hilder. In 1927 Hilder enrolled in evening art classes organised by the Royal Art Society of NSW, after starting and abandoning a commercial art course at East Sydney Technical College the previous year. During the 1920s he worked as a carpenter, including several years working on houses for Walter Burley Griffin at Castlecrag, a theatre designer, undertook shop window displays and designed and constructed film and puppet sets.
Hilder continued to exhibit watercolours and etchings and in 1962 began part-time teaching at East Sydney Technical College’s art school. In 1962 he won a competition for the design of a ‘wall enrichment’ at the Reserve Bank of Australia Head office building.
He first exhibited his sculptures in 1945. His main works appear to be in the commercial display field and his works are represented in the National Gallery of NSW and the University of New England.[18] Hilder was a foundation member of the Society of Sculptors and in 1978 he was made a Member of the British Empire for services to art.
Figure 9 -View of the wall enrichment, designed by Bim Hilder, located in the ground floor foyer of the RBA building c1964.
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia Archives D10/86761
3.7.3 Margel Hinder
Margel Ina Hinder nee Harris(1906-1995)[19] won a national competition in 1962 for the design of the sculpture located at the Martin Place entrance to the Head office building. The 7.9m high free-standing sculpture in the Martin Place forecourt is welded sheet copper on a stainless steel structural frame with molten copper decoration. It is unnamed and has no ‘banking’ significance other than being a work of public art to compliment the architecture of the building. The sculpture The original design maquette is also located in the Bank.[20]
Hinder was born in New York, but was educated in Buffalo following her parents relocation to that city in 1909. She commenced studies at the Buffalo Fine Arts Institute in 1925, moving to Boston in 1926to study sculpture and modelling at the School of the Museum of Foie Arts. In May 1930 she married Henry Francis (Frank) Hinder at Wellesley, Massachusetts, and in 1934 they moved to Sydney, where the couple became pioneer figures in modern art especially in the Inter War period.
Following World War II Hinder lectured at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) and at the National Art School, Sydney, and conducted sculpture courses at her home. In 1949 the AGNSW was the first public gallery to acquire one of her works, Garden Sculpture (1945).
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Figure 10 - Podium Sculpture by Margel Hinder located in the Martin Place forecourt, NBRSARCHITECTURE, July 2019.
From the mid-1950s Hinder began working with metal, and an increasing preoccupation with movement and the need to move around a sculpture to engage with it and its form. She worked as a freelance sculptor from 1964 onwards and was one of the few women artists in Australia engaged to undertake large public commissions. Her work was included in the Second International Sculpture Exhibition (Paris, 1961) and the Captain James Cook Memorial Fountain located in the Civic Park, Newcastle NSW (1966).
A number of Australia-wide competitions were held in the early 1960s to assist in the selection and commissioning of public art works for inclusion in the Head Office.
3.7.4 Margo Lewers
Hettie Margaret (Margo) Lewers, nee Plate (1908-1978)[21] was born at Mosman, Sydney, and undertook evening classes in Sydney under Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo and Desiderius Orban, where she met Gerald Lewers. Following their marriage, they travelled to Europe in 1934 , enrolling at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, where Margo studied textile design, painting and drawing.
On returning to Sydney, she opened an shop in Rowe Street, and continued to design hand-printed fabrics. She undertook works in a range of mediums including painting, textiles, sculpture and mosaic, and was recognised as a leading component of abstract expressionism in post-war Australia. Margo was commissioned to design a mosaic wall for the former Canberra-Rex Hotel, Canberra (1967), the Aubusson tapestry (1968) for the boardroom of the RBA Head Office, and won over fourteen awards and prizes.
Her painting, Unobserved, was acquired by the Reserve Bank as part of its art collection in c1966. Such was her reputation as an artist that she was retained, following the death of Gerald in 1962, to complete his copper installation for the wall of the Reserve Bank, Canberra.
Frederick Charles Ward (1899-1999) trained as an artist at the School of Art within the National Gallery of Victoria, later becoming a cartoonist and illustrator for several weekly magazines including The Bulletin. Ward was influenced by the emerging modernist movement, which he considered as the ‘…province of the young and radical…and a threat to the established social order’. He began manufacturing furniture in 1927, and in 1931 was invited to open a modern furniture department for Myer Emporium (Melbourne). His role with Myers continued to c1950, although it ceased temporarily during the World War 2 when Ward served with the Department of Aircraft Production, assisting in the manufacture of wood-framed Mosquito aircraft.
Ward established ‘Patterncraft’ in conjunction with Home Beautiful Magazine in 1947. The concept was designed to enable the home handyman to make furniture using basic hand tools. Instructions, including full-sized patterns and lists of materials and tools required, continued into the 1950s.
In1949 Ward was appointed as Design Consultant to the Australian National University, and later provided advice to other universities and government departments such as the National Capital Development Commission in Canberra. In the mid-1950s Ward publicly criticised the state of furniture design in Australia and advocated patronage by government departments to provide a stimulus for growth in the design industry. His comments were noted by Dr HC Coombs, and Ward was commissioned to design furniture for the Head Office building in 1961.
3.8 Stylistic Context
The Reserve Bank of Australia Head Office building, Sydney, was designed by the Commonwealth Department of Works in the Late Twentieth-Century International style, although the design of the podium draws on the characteristics of the Late Twentieth-Century Stripped Classical style.
The Late Twentieth-Century International style was a continuation of the post-war International style of the 1950s, a style that was widely published in architectural magazines of the time, and initially was influenced by Walter Gropius. By the 1960s the style had proliferated under practitioners such as IM Pei in the United States of America and a number of practitioners in Australia where the style was largely associated with commercial and institutional buildings.
The eight buildings designed for the Reserve Bank generally incorporated similar materials and architectural devices to provide a cohesive public image for the Bank however they were each designed to suit their individual sites and context. For example the Canberra and Darwin buildings were designed as low-scale buildings to suit their surrounding context, while the Head Office Martin Place was designed to suit an urban context in Central Sydney.
The Head Office is designed as a tower located over a podium, which is designed to relate to the scale of the streetscape and to pedestrian visitors generally. The elevations of the podium level of the Head Office are designed to relate to other buildings in the group, with the external arrangement of columns supporting a strong horizontal element and echoing classical peristyle architecture. In the case of Canberra and Darwin the columns appear to support the roof, while the column structure of the Martin Place building appears to carry the first and second floors.
The podium component of the Head Office was designed to relate to the streetscape and the pedestrian scale of visitors. The walls of the ground floor are generally glazed, and the artworks both within the entrance area and external were designed to enhance the immediate area and the visitor experience.
3.8.1 Comparable RBA buildings
The Reserve Bank of Australia Head office is one of eight purpose-built office buildings constructed to house its operations in every state and territory capital throughout Australia following the creation of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as a separate entity.
Head Office, 65 Martin Place, Sydney (1965).
182 Victoria Square, Adelaide (1963). No longer owned by RBA.
102 Adelaide Street, Brisbane (1965). No longer owned by RBA.
22 London Circuit, Canberra (1965).
60 Collins Street, Melbourne (1966). No longer owned by the RBA
Bennet Street & Smith Street, Darwin (1967). No longer owned by RBA.
45 St George Terrace, Perth (1973). No longer owned by RBA.
111 Macquarie Street, Hobart (1974). No longer owned by RBA.
The buildings, with the exception of the Canberra Branch building[23], were designed by the Commonwealth Department of Works Banks and Special Projects Branch, utilising the Late Twentieth-Century International or Stripped Classical architectural style. The Head Office, Sydney is an example of the Late Twentieth-Century International style in Central Sydney.
The Reserve Bank buildings throughout Australia reflected a confidence in things Australian and in the future, when the Australian economy was booming. They were designed as statements of ‘corporate pride’ and the vital economic role the Reserve Bank aspired to play in the Nation. The buildings were significant in creating an International image for the Australian economy, and were in part due to the vision of Dr HC Coombs as the first Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Sydney was the first project in this significant building program following the purchase of the site in Martin Place from the Council of the City of Sydney in December 1958 Dr Coombs was determined that the Head Office would be an impressive structure, built to reflect the Bank’s prestige and leadership of the financial system. As the flagship building, it was to be largely constructed from Australian materials.
The Head Office opened in January 1965 and included a number of specially commissioned modern sculptures and an ‘Australian’ native garden in Macquarie Street. The building was well received in architectural circles, but drew some criticism from the general public, who dubbed building the “Marble and Gold Palace” for its perceived extravagance on Commonwealth expenditure on Public Works, which coincided with a ‘credit squeeze’ within the general Australian economy.
The design of the Head Office building reflected the architectural philosophies of the time, providing a tower located over a podium that related to the streetscape, and incorporating extensive staff facilities. Coombs issued a press release at the opening of the Head Office building “…The massive walls and pillars used in the past to emphasize the strength and permanence in bank buildings are not seen in the new head office… Here, contemporary design and conceptions express our conviction that a central bank should develop with growing knowledge and a changing institutional structure and adapt its policies and techniques to the changing needs of the community within which it works.”[24]
The Head Office accommodated both banking and administrative functions, and staff training and recreational facilities. The building originally contained a target practice facility to enable security staff to be trained in the use of pistols and small arms for security. These facilities were common in the major bank headquarters[25] throughout the city, but had generally been removed or adapted for other uses by the late 1990s as other security systems were developed.
The building also contained a Staff Cafeteria, a Medical Centre and Squash Courts. These types of facilities were often included in multi-storeyed government buildings constructed in Sydney in the 1960s, for example the QANTAS House, the Goodsell Building (demolished) and the former State Office Block (demolished).
Figure 11 - The Head Office of the RBA, located at 65 Martin Place, Sydney NSW. Source: RBA Archives
Figure 12 – RBA building Adelaide. Source: NAA
Figure 13 – RBA building, Brisbane. Source: NAA
Figure 14 — The Reserve Bank of Australia, Canberra, c1964. Source: State Library of Victoria, Image No. a21826
Figure 15 — The Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne, c1967. Source: State Library of Victoria.
Figure 16 - The Reserve Bank of Australia building, Darwin. Source: Northern Territory Library
