Liberty Place

The ANZ Tower foyer

The ANZ tower is a forty-four storey commercial tower located in the heart of Sydney CBD. The premium grade tower has dual frontages to 161 Castlereagh Street and 242 Pitt Street and is one of the five sites that form Liberty Place. At the base of ANZ tower, a 16m high glazed foyer volume announces the entry to the commercial tower. The foyer is enclosed by suspended walls of translucent glass fixed from an innovative system of high tension stainless steel cables and custom patch fittings. The translucent glass walls continue inside creating a significant and dramatic interior space. The internal glass walls are rear illuminated, using an advanced system of LED backlighting. A suspended white ceiling appears to float within the space and completes the architectural expression of the enclosing box.

Two addresses

Within this enclosure a combination of rectilinear and sculptural elements define and organise the space. With two addresses it facilitates distinct entry points and reception areas for the two major tenants (ANZ, 161 Castlereagh Street and Herbert Smith Freehills at 242 Pitt Street). Subsequently, the design of the ANZ foyer was required to resolve a number of conflicting requirements including; level changes between two streets without creating onerous access conditions and differing tenant requirements for security control. Despite varying requirements for each of the major tenants, the design reflects a cohesive and unified entry point. The result is a sculpturally elegant space which functionally supports both the office workers that reside in the building and the pedestrian traffic that frequents the thoroughfare. The flooring to the lower level of the foyer (Pitt Street) is from honed back granite with bands of dark grey limestone. The flooring to the upper level of the foyer (Castlereagh Street) is from a white limestone. This upper floor plane of white limestone folds down along the path of the through site link to create a dramatic staircase. This staircase is expressed as a major sculptural element within the foyer. The sculptural forms of the stair extend upward and join with a curving, ribbon bulkhead which wraps over the entry doors at each end of the foyer. The result is a sculpturally elegant space which functionally supports both the office workers and the pedestrian traffic that frequents the through site link. The curved potions of the staircase are cut from solid blocks of limestone using CNC stone cutting technology. The stone extends up the sides of the stair interlocking with the curved bulkhead element, which is formed from MDF with a specialist paint finish. The lower level walls within the foyer are clad in a combination of large format slabs of Kyknos marble and horizontal boards of FSC certified New Zealand Maple Beech.

Marble, timber and sandstone

The Kyknos marble was selected as it has a clear white background with subtle spiders veins from warm brown tones. Together with the timber wall cladding and sandstone panelling, a warm, natural material palette is created.

Explore the landscape of Liberty Place.

Awards
2014	World Architecture Festival	Completed Buildings, Office category winner
2014	UDIA NSW	Award for Excellence in Sustainable Development (Liberty Place precinct)

Press
2 Oct 2014	ArchitectureAU	FJMT and CHROFI pip OMA at 2014 WAF Awards
1 Oct 2014	Dezeen	World Architecture Festival 2014 day one winners announced
5 Aug 2014	The Fifth Estate	Grocon’s Liberty Place gets sustainability accolade