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MLC Building, Sydney
The MLC Building is a heritage-listed office building located at 42–46 Martin Place in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bates Smart & McCutcheon and built from 1936 to 1938 by Concrete Constructions Limited. It is also known as Mutual Life & Assurance Building. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. From the time of its construction and for many years thereafter, the building served as the offices for Australian life insurance company, Mutual Life & Citizens Assurance Company Limited. As of December 2018[update] the anchor tenant was Norton Rose Fulbright, formerly Henry Davis York, an international law firm.
Major insurance companies were formed in Victorian Australia, often with British assets, to cover the problems of world trade, internal communication, retirement and the constant hazard of fire. The Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Company, which commissioned Bates, Smart and McCutcheon to build its new Sydney Headquarters at the corner of Martin Place and Castlereagh Street in 1936–1938, already had on the same site a substantial Victorian building, which was demolished in 1937.
During 1936 the Mutual Life and Citizen's Assurance Society held a two stage competition for the design of its new building to be erected on the site. It attracted more than 70 entries. The winning design by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon selected from a short list of six was built during 1937–1938. Bates Smart & McCutcheon were a distinguished Melbourne-based firm since 1926, although the experience of the principals went back to the nineteenth century. The majority of the firm's work prior to World War II was domestic and the MLC building is its only large commercial undertaking in Sydney between the wars. Other commercial buildings designed by the Bates Smart & McCutcheon during the period 1930–1942 include the AMP Building (1931) and Buckley & Nunn Ltd, Men's Store (1934), both in Melbourne. The building's architect Osborn McCutcheon was a man who garnered national respect from his peers, his work was recognised by the award of the RAIA Gold Medal in 1965 and he was knighted in 1966.
The building belongs to the period of recovery from the Depression and is the near contemporary of the City Mutual Life Assurance Building in Hunter Street, of Transport House and of David Jones' Market Street store. MLC also built a new headquarters in Melbourne as the Sydney building was nearing completion: the structural similarities, though not the detailing, of the two buildings are very striking.
Alterations were made to the Sydney building in 1987–1988 under the supervision of Clive Lucas Stapleton. These included the infill of the light well and relocation of the lift core and stairs, the widening of the Martin Place entry and the relocation of the executive suite to level 10. The existing granite lift core surrounds were relocated and reused and a matching surround made for a new fourth lift.
The MLC Building is one of a group of buildings which form the boundaries of Martin Place. Apart from the most recent buildings, and although individual buildings within the group have been constructed over a period of more than 100 years, there is a high degree of unity in building form, height and the use of high quality masonry materials.
The MLC Building is one of only three remaining buildings, (the others being the Commonwealth Bank and APA Building) which define the eastern end of Martin Place, forming a hard wall to a maximum height of 12 storeys. The building is very prominent when viewed from the eastern end of Martin Place, its verticality in design and the tower standing out and making a large contribution to the particular urban quality of Martin Place.
The former MLC Building occupies a prominent position on the corner of Martin Place and Castlereagh Streets, Sydney. The steel-framed building was erected to a height of 46 metres (150 ft), the maximum allowable in Sydney at the time, although the tower rose another 15 metres (50 ft) higher. Externally the upper floors are clad in buff Wondabyne sandstone supplied by Hawkesbury Sandstone Limited. The base of the building is of "Rob Roy Red" from Sodwalls quarry. The stone has a tooled finish with a vertical polished scolloped polished border next to the window mullions. Polished Rose Red granite is used for the plinth course, running beneath the windows and around the doorways. The emblem of the Society has been incorporated into the detail over the main entrance from Martin Place and Castlereagh Streets. The granite was supplied by the firm Loveridge and Hudson Ltd.
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MLC Building, Sydney AI simulator
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MLC Building, Sydney
The MLC Building is a heritage-listed office building located at 42–46 Martin Place in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bates Smart & McCutcheon and built from 1936 to 1938 by Concrete Constructions Limited. It is also known as Mutual Life & Assurance Building. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. From the time of its construction and for many years thereafter, the building served as the offices for Australian life insurance company, Mutual Life & Citizens Assurance Company Limited. As of December 2018[update] the anchor tenant was Norton Rose Fulbright, formerly Henry Davis York, an international law firm.
Major insurance companies were formed in Victorian Australia, often with British assets, to cover the problems of world trade, internal communication, retirement and the constant hazard of fire. The Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Company, which commissioned Bates, Smart and McCutcheon to build its new Sydney Headquarters at the corner of Martin Place and Castlereagh Street in 1936–1938, already had on the same site a substantial Victorian building, which was demolished in 1937.
During 1936 the Mutual Life and Citizen's Assurance Society held a two stage competition for the design of its new building to be erected on the site. It attracted more than 70 entries. The winning design by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon selected from a short list of six was built during 1937–1938. Bates Smart & McCutcheon were a distinguished Melbourne-based firm since 1926, although the experience of the principals went back to the nineteenth century. The majority of the firm's work prior to World War II was domestic and the MLC building is its only large commercial undertaking in Sydney between the wars. Other commercial buildings designed by the Bates Smart & McCutcheon during the period 1930–1942 include the AMP Building (1931) and Buckley & Nunn Ltd, Men's Store (1934), both in Melbourne. The building's architect Osborn McCutcheon was a man who garnered national respect from his peers, his work was recognised by the award of the RAIA Gold Medal in 1965 and he was knighted in 1966.
The building belongs to the period of recovery from the Depression and is the near contemporary of the City Mutual Life Assurance Building in Hunter Street, of Transport House and of David Jones' Market Street store. MLC also built a new headquarters in Melbourne as the Sydney building was nearing completion: the structural similarities, though not the detailing, of the two buildings are very striking.
Alterations were made to the Sydney building in 1987–1988 under the supervision of Clive Lucas Stapleton. These included the infill of the light well and relocation of the lift core and stairs, the widening of the Martin Place entry and the relocation of the executive suite to level 10. The existing granite lift core surrounds were relocated and reused and a matching surround made for a new fourth lift.
The MLC Building is one of a group of buildings which form the boundaries of Martin Place. Apart from the most recent buildings, and although individual buildings within the group have been constructed over a period of more than 100 years, there is a high degree of unity in building form, height and the use of high quality masonry materials.
The MLC Building is one of only three remaining buildings, (the others being the Commonwealth Bank and APA Building) which define the eastern end of Martin Place, forming a hard wall to a maximum height of 12 storeys. The building is very prominent when viewed from the eastern end of Martin Place, its verticality in design and the tower standing out and making a large contribution to the particular urban quality of Martin Place.
The former MLC Building occupies a prominent position on the corner of Martin Place and Castlereagh Streets, Sydney. The steel-framed building was erected to a height of 46 metres (150 ft), the maximum allowable in Sydney at the time, although the tower rose another 15 metres (50 ft) higher. Externally the upper floors are clad in buff Wondabyne sandstone supplied by Hawkesbury Sandstone Limited. The base of the building is of "Rob Roy Red" from Sodwalls quarry. The stone has a tooled finish with a vertical polished scolloped polished border next to the window mullions. Polished Rose Red granite is used for the plinth course, running beneath the windows and around the doorways. The emblem of the Society has been incorporated into the detail over the main entrance from Martin Place and Castlereagh Streets. The granite was supplied by the firm Loveridge and Hudson Ltd.