Quay Quarter Tower
50 Bridge Street, Sydney
3XN with BVN; original tower by Peddle, Thorp & Walker. AMP Centre 1976, rebuilt 2018 to 2022. Contemporary.
- Size
- Quoted at 206, 210.4 and 216 m, with 49 to 54 floors. The drawing uses the Skyscraper Center’s 210.4 m. Width estimated from photographs
- Material
- Retained 1970s concrete core and frame, new glass facade with sunshade hoods
- Status
- Offices. 6 Star Green Star
The AMP Centre by Peddle Thorp & Walker opened here in 1976, at 188 m. AMP Capital chose to keep it rather than demolish it, and the Danish practice 3XN was appointed through an international competition in 2014, with BVN as executive architect. Sources describe what was retained differently: two-thirds of the beams, columns and slabs and almost the whole core in ArchDaily, 65 per cent of the structure and 95 per cent of the core in Architecture Australia, and 68 per cent on Wikipedia. New floors, extended slabs and a new podium added about 45,000 m².
The new tower is arranged as five stacked glass volumes, each shifted from the one below. Wallpaper reports that the twisting shape follows views and light, with atria at various levels connecting the floors. Sunshade hoods across the glass make the staggered pattern seen from outside. ArchDaily reports they cut direct sunlight by up to 30 per cent.
Quoted savings of carbon also vary, from about 8,000 to nearly 12,000 tonnes. In 2022 the building won the International High-Rise Award and was named World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival. In 2023 the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat named it the best tall building worldwide.
Sources
- Quay Quarter Tower, Wikipedia
- Quay Quarter Tower, Skyscraper Center, CTBUH
- 3XN's Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney Wins the International High-Rise Award 2022/23, ArchDaily
- Sydney's Quay Quarter Tower takes out top global award, Architecture Australia
- 3XN's Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney is a template for sustainable reuse, Wallpaper