| Historical notes: | Statement of Country:
Warrane (Circular Quay), is on the traditional lands of the Gadigal. It is a key area of contact between Gadigal and Berewalgal (meaning people from a distant place: the Europeans) in 1788 and subsequent periods of conflict and displacement.
The land upon which the AMP Building sits was once marshy mudflats. The harbour and marine life were closely linked to food sources, travel, recreation and cultural practices of the Gadigal. The Berewalgal settlement displaced many Gadigal from Warrane but some remained close and camped at the Government boatsheds in east Warrane (500m northeast from the AMP Building). Although many Gadigal were displaced their descendants are still living in Sydney today.
Early Land Grants:
The location of the AMP Building was previously part of the grounds of the First Government House. A plan from 1816 depicts the site within a "Pleasure Ground" located between First Government House and the shore. The site and its surrounds are part of Circular Quay of which initial construction began in 1839 and was completed in 1847. The site of the AMP Building was located on several town allotments, subdivided in 1845. These were purchased from the Crown between 1845 and 1847.
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort:
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort played a key role in the history and development of the site that the AMP Building stands on now. Mort would go on to acquire the land and develop it into a wool store. Thereafter he would be a founding member of the Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) Society. His wool store would later be sold to develop the commercial AMP office tower building.
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was born on 23 December 1816 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. He received a sound and practical education and went on to be employed as a clerk. He set sail aboard the Superb arriving at its destination in Sydney in February 1838, as he had received an opportunity to work in Sydney and improve his prospects. He was employed as a clerk in Aspinall, Browne & Co., later Gosling, Browne & Co., he gained experience with local and international commerce and received a salary of 500 pounds. He married Theresa Shepheard in 1841. Two years later he set up as an auctioneer; by doing so he prospered in general and wool sales (Alan Barnard, 1974).
He innovated regular wool only sales, which drew specialised sellers and buyers of wool together. A few years later he started auctioning livestock and pastoral properties in a similar manner. Mort began handing out credits to select purchasers and eventually provided finance for running expenses. He grew his business and by the 1850s he provided the facilities for growers to consign wool through him for sale back to London. This integrated service system paved the way for later wool-broking firms. By this time he was the premier auctioneer in Sydney (Alan Barnard, 1974).
Mort & Co was a wool brokerage and auction company formed by Thomas Sutcliffe Mort in 1854. The AMP Building site sits within the former site of the Thomas Mort's Wool Store. It was also occupied by several other smaller wool stores. The Wool Store was designed by Edmund Blacket in the 1860s for Mort & Co as a large Italianate warehouse. The Wool Store was constructed between 1866 and 1867 on the corner of Alfred and Young Streets at Circular Quay. The building was extended and modified between 1883 and 1887. It was demolished in 1959 (by which time it was known as the Farmers and Graziers Building) to make way for the construction of the AMP Building (State Library NSW, n.d.).
Mort was an entrepreneur, he had many other businesses outside of his wool trade. Other ventures included founding a company to promote sugar growing in Moreton Bay, becoming a member of the Sydney Exchange Co., a director of the Sydney Railway Co., and floated the Great Nugget Vein Mining Co. He was also a founding member of Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) Society in 1848 and built a dry dock at Waterview (Balmain) in 1855 (Alan Barnard, 1974).
AMP Society:
The AMP Society was founded in 1848 as a non-profit, life-insurance company, and mutual society, with its first office located in Sydney. It was established by Reverend Canon Walsh, Mt Holt and Mr Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. Their first office providing life insurance policies was opened late the same year. The Society's main office main Sydney office remained at 87 Pitt Street from 1883 until 1962, at which point the AMP Building, Sydney Cove was constructed (National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2001).
George King was chairman for fifteen years from the 1850s. Richard Teece was general manager and actuary from 1890 and a director from 1917 to 1927. As the company grew, offices were opened across Australia including in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Darwin as well as regional centres such as Newcastle, Goulburn, Bendigo, Warrnambool, Maryborough, Townsville and Rockhampton (Noel Butlin Archives Centre, n.d.).
In 1876 the company expanded overseas to New Zealand. Thereafter, AMP was demutualised into an Australian public company, called AMP Limited, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASE) and New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) in 1998. A year later AMP launched its online bank called AMP Banking (Noel Butlin Archives Centre, n.d.).
On 15 November 2010, AMP announced a bid to merge its business with AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. The Australasian holdings included the former National Mutual business (established in 1869) which was demutualised in 1996. As part of this merger, the AXA brand was phased out of the Australian and New Zealand market by 2013. In 2020, AMP sold its life insurance business, called AMP Life, to Resolution Life. In February 2022, AMP was delisted from the NZX, consolidating its listing on the ASE. AMP celebrates its 175th anniversary in 2024.
Peddle Thorp and Walker Architects:
Peddle Thorp and Walker now known as PTW Architects originally designed the AMP Building. James Peddle was the foundational partner and established the practice in 1889. Throughout the years he invited his students to join him as partners, as follows, Samuel Thorp (1914), Ernest Walker (1925), and Frank Thorp (1929). The firm's initial focus was on residential projects. During the 1920s and 1930s the firm expanded its scope to include civic, commercial and industrial buildings (PTW, 2024).
By 1952 the firm had been awarded two Sulman Medals for public architecture, one in 1930 for Science House, Sydney and the second one in 1952 for the Royal Swedish Legation, Canberra. The firm also undertook detailed post-war public, industrial and commercial commissions. At this time Graham Thorp joined his father Samuel Thorp at the firm. Graham was hired as an architectural consultant on the proposed design of the AMP Building. He undertook his precedent research by travelling to America to study the latest building design and trends. Some examples of skyscrapers built in the International style in New York at the time that Thorp visited included the UN Building (1952), the Lever House (1954) and the Seagram Tower (1958).
The innovative techniques that he discovered and incorporated into the AMP Building's proposed design were new to Australia. After the success of the AMP Building in 1962 the firm went on to design over 50 Sydney city tower buildings such as the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1980 (PTW, 2024).
Construction of the AMP Building, Sydney Cove:
The site chosen for the AMP headquarters building fronting Alfred Street consolidated several building lots. The AMP Society was determined to obtain a site sufficiently large enough to comfortably accommodate the needs of the organisation while allowing only a minimal site coverage. The AMP Society acquired the site for their proposed new building in 1957 from the Farmers and Graziers Co-op.
Negotiations regarding the building began with Sydney City Council in late 1956. The same year, Sydney City Council approved the demolition of Mort's Wool Stores. At this time the planned building would breach the 150 foot height limit placed on Sydney buildings in 1912. In March 1957 the AMP Society applied to the NSW Chief Secretary for permission to exceed, by at least 100 feet, the existing building height limit for their proposed new skyscraper. A precedent had already been set with concessions gained by ICI, in Melbourne. A month after AMP's application, a bill to breach the old height restrictions was introduced to the NSW Legislative Assembly. AMP's desire to exceed the established height limit provoked twelve months of investigations by the NSW Government and Sydney City Council. A second Development Application for the proposed 383 feet tower, covering only fifty five percent of the site with the rest given over to an urban plaza, was submitted in 1958. Approval was finally granted with the building applications being submitted in 1959.
An extensive team was put together for the AMP Building project, including architects from PTW, structural engineers, Rankine & Hill, and mechanical engineers John R. Wallis & Associates. Rider Hunt and Partners were the selected quantity surveyors, Mr R. H. Talbot was appointed as Senior Mechanical Clerk of Works, and Concrete Constructions Pty was awarded the building contract. A portion of the north east corner of the proposed AMP Building design was built to scale in North Sydney as a prototype. Its exact location is now unknown. The prototype was an opportunity to, for the first time in Australia, test the new techniques discovered in America before applying them to the AMP Building. The prototype was completely functional and became a popular location for companies to test new products and building procedures (National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2001).
At the time of its construction, the AMP Building was the tallest building in Australia at a height of 117 m. It was Sydney's first skyscraper. Construction began in 1959 with the trenching works for the building foundations. A tunnel was dug under Alfred Street that connected the building's basement to the harbour to supply the sea water required for the air conditioning system, Australia's first sea water air conditioning system. The sea water air conditioning was an established technology that was applied in an innovative way for the first time in an office skyscraper. It reduced the energy consumption of a conventional air conditioning system which was environmentally friendly and cost effective. Other buildings that went on to use this technology include the Sydney Opera House (1973), Park Hyatt in Circular Quay and the Museum of Contemporary Art both constructed in the 1990s.
The trenching works uncovered an old chain and shackle that was used to tie up the wool ships, as the water line used to reach high out of the harbour. Other innovative techniques never before seen in Australian building design included cellular steel floors, modular partitions, a new type of glare and shadow free fluorescent light fitting, a new form vermiculite fireproofing, a continuously moving document conveyor system, the longest span beams ever installed in Australia, and new ceiling and flooring materials. Additionally, heat toughened glass with the reverse sides impregnated with gold dust were installed on the facade of the building, and the golden colour would change depending on the refraction and reflection of the sunlight at different points in the day. The 7th and 8th floors were specifically designed to house the IBM 1401 computer system, which required cooling devices and special floors (National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2001). The northern facade design included a glass curtain wall with a curve overlooking the harbour. Architect Thorp explained that the unique shape of the building was the first of its kind and he had not witnessed another building like it in his travels through America (National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2001).
AMP Building grand opening and public interest:
The building was completed in 1961, and officially opened by the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. 2600 staff and family members attended a house warming at the new building.
A high level of public debate accompanied the construction of the AMP building with objections not restricted to the impact of its height on the Quay, but also to its curved facade that was almost as controversial as its height. Due to the high level of public interest the AMP conducted guided tours of the building four times a day, which included the view from the podium over the harbour and parts of the city surrounds. By 1964 1 million people had visited the observation podium, its busiest day seeing 6,459 visitors (Western Herald, 27/11/1964). The papers were aflush with articles about the new building, one of them stated "If ever anyone's place of employment could be called "paradise, this 384ft. building is it" (Winifred Munday, 1962).
The AMP adjacent to Circular Quay, together with Goldfield House, forms the 1960s gateway to the city, a three-dimensional parabola which defined the height of buildings until 1985 (National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2001).
AMP Building awards and ownership;
The Interior Refurbishment of the AMP Building by PTW Architects was awarded the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) commendation for Interior Design in 2005 (PTW, 2024).
The AMP Building was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) Award for Enduring Architecture in 2013. The award celebrates the technically advanced or innovative work of the building's time, that remains symbolically significant, is an exponent of creative leadership or is a work of national significance (AIA, n.d.).
Dexus acquired AMP Capital's real estate and domestic infrastructure equity business (AMP Capital) in March 2023. |