{{Short description|Skyscraper in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}} {{Infobox building | name = Chifley Tower | image = Chifley Tower, August 2010.jpg | image_size = 180px | caption = Chifley Tower in August 2010 | location = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | coordinates = {{coord|33|51|57.4|S|151|12|41.9|E|display=inline,title}} | highest_region = Sydney | highest_prev = Citigroup Centre | highest_start = 1992 | highest_end = 2019 | highest_next = Crown Sydney | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = Location in Greater Metropolitan Sydney | pushpin_mapsize = 280 | pushpin_label = | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_relief = | status = Complete | construction_start_date = 1988 | completion_date = 1992 | building_type = Office | antenna_spire = {{convert|244|m|ft|abbr=on}} | roof = {{convert|216|m|ft|abbr=on}} | floor_count = 53 | elevator_count = 29 | cost = A$ 1.2 billion | floor_area = {{convert|90000|m2|sqft|-2|abbr=on}} | architect = Kohn Pedersen Fox | structural_engineer = | main_contractor = | developer = Bond Corporation & Kumagai Gumi | website = {{URL|www.chifley.com.au}} }}
'''Chifley Tower''' is a 53-storey skyscraper in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by New York City-based architects<ref name="Chifley Tower">{{cite web |url = http://www.chifleytower.com.au/Commercial/Public/public_index.asp |title = Chifley Tower – Background |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060524073401/http://www.chifleytower.com.au/Commercial/Public/public_index.asp |archive-date = 24 May 2006 }}</ref> Travis McEwen and Kohn Pedersen Fox, with John Rayner as project architect.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bio|url=http://www.dicksonrothschild.com.au|access-date=22 April 2011}}</ref> At a height of 244 metres (801 feet), Chifley Tower was the tallest building in Sydney from 1992 to 2019. It was surpassed in height by Crown Sydney (271 metres) in 2020 along with the Salesforce Tower (263 metres) and One Sydney Harbour (247 metres) in 2022.
==Site history== left|thumb|231x231px|Tower from the south with ground plaza at street level Chifley Tower is built on an irregularly shaped plot. Due to the organic development of Sydney's street pattern, the streets that run north from this area form a skewed grid that is aligned differently to the streets that run south from this area, which form another skewed grid. The cross streets immediately north and south of the site (Bent and Hunter), on the other hand, follow meandering alignments that do not align with these skewed grids.
At the southwestern corner of the plot, Elizabeth Street terminates at Hunter Street while, a short distance to the east, Phillip Street crosses Hunter Street and continues north to Circular Quay. Elizabeth Street became a major artery, running almost straight from Hunter Street in the north, past Central station through to Waterloo, while Phillip Street runs south from this junction for only two blocks before it is terminated by King Street and St James' Church. As a result, termination of Elizabeth Street at Hunter Street was felt to be unsatisfactory, and from the early 20th century various plans were devised to modernise this junction. The City of Sydney Council adopted a plan to create a Parisian Haussmannian-style geometric plaza, through which Elizabeth Street would connect with the northern section of Phillip Street and form a thoroughfare to Circular Quay.<ref name="DoS">[https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/chifley_square Dictionary of Sydney – Chifley Square]</ref>
Land resumptions to create this square continued for many years. In 1957, Qantas House was completed to the northwest of the junction, with a curved frontage conforming to the planned plaza, named Chifley Square. However, in 1962, the Commonwealth Centre, owned by the Federal Government, was completed on the site of today's Chifley Tower complex, and did not align with the planned plaza. Eventually it was demolished in the 1980s, and the Chifley Tower complex was built in its place. The podium building has a curved facade to the southwest which mirrors that of Qantas House and completes the semicircular curve of the planned square. The southwestern corner of the plot became a pedestrian plaza, with a giant, two-dimensional sculpture of Ben Chifley, after whom the square is named.<ref name="DoS"/>
The building was originally named Bond Tower, after Alan Bond. After Bond's bankruptcy, the building was acquired by Kumagai Gumi, and in 1993 was renamed Chifley Tower, after the square. The retail arcade located in the podium building is named Chifley Plaza.
==Features== thumb|Arcade Entrance|left Located at 2 Chifley Square, its cross streets are Hunter, Philip and Bent Streets with the main entry being on Phillip Street.<ref name="Chifley Tower" /> Due to its prominent location at the peak in the north-east CBD, the Tower has broad harbour views from its 42 storeys.<ref>[http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=6441 SkyscraperPage]</ref> The tower is used primarily for commercial use, mostly financial institutions, law firms and corporations. Current tenants include UBS, BlackRock, Servcorp,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Office space, Virtual Office, Coworking in Sydney {{!}} Chifley Tower|url=https://www.servcorp.com.au/en/locations/sydney/chifley-tower/|access-date=2021-11-23|website=Servcorp}}</ref> Hana Financial Group and Bank of Queensland.
A midrise podium building surrounds the tower. Retail arcades are located on the lower levels, while the upper levels of the podium building are used as commercial offices (for most of the building's history, as trading floors for a succession of investment banks). The entrance foyer for the retail arcades is located on the southwestern corner of the building, facing Chifley Square.
A {{convert|3|m|ft|adj=on}} lightning rod was added in 2000, extending its original height from {{convert|241|m}} to {{convert|244|m}}. To stop the tower from moving in the wind a giant steel pendulum weighing {{convert|400|LT|ST}} is held from eight {{convert|75|mm|adj=on}} wires near the rooftop. The tower is named after former Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley.<ref>{{cite news | first1 = Matthew | last1 = Cranston | first2 = Nick | last2 = Lenaghan | title = Stake in Alan Bond's Chifley Tower up for grabs for $900 million | newspaper = Australian Financial Review | date = August 29, 2018 | access-date = November 19, 2025 | url = https://www.afr.com/property/stake-in-alan-bonds-chifley-tower-up-for-grabs-for-900-million-20180829-h14oqv }}</ref>
At one time All Nippon Airways operated a sales office on Level 32.<ref>"[http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/uk/e/about_ana/corp_info/investor/stock_info/reports/images/1998/98j.pdf ANA Directory]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160708184523/http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/uk/e/about_ana/corp_info/investor/stock_info/reports/images/1998/98j.pdf Archive]). All Nippon Airways. 1998. Retrieved on 9 July 2016. "Sydney Level 32, The Chifley Tower 2 Chifley Square, Sydney N.S.W. 2000, Australia"</ref>
==See also== * List of tallest buildings in Sydney * List of tallest buildings in Australia * List of tallest buildings designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web | url = http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/chifley_tower | title = Chifley Tower | access-date = 9 October 2015 | author = Laila Ellmoos | date = 2008 | work = Dictionary of Sydney | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust}}<nowiki>[</nowiki>CC-By-SA<nowiki>]</nowiki>
{{Tallest buildings in Australia|taller=The Tower at Melbourne Central|theight={{convert|246|m|abbr=on}}|shorter=Citigroup Centre|sheight={{convert|243|m|abbr=on}}}}
{{Sydney skyscrapers}} {{Architecture of Sydney |state=autocollapse}} {{Skyscrapers in Sydney}} {{Sydney landmarks}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Sydney Category:Kohn Pedersen Fox buildings Category:Office buildings completed in 1992 Category:Postmodern architecture in Australia Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Sydney Category:Sydney central business district Category:1992 establishments in Australia