1 Spring Street

Melbourne
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    Metrics
Height 132 m / 433 ft
Floors 32
Official Name
The current legal building name.

1 Spring Street

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

Shell House

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed

Completion

1988

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Australia

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Melbourne

Address

1 Spring Street

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

Office

Structural Material
All-Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered an “all-steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

All-Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars and/or steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

All-Timber
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localized non-timber connections between timber elements. Note that a building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of timber beams is still considered an “all-timber” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. all-steel, all-concrete, all-timber), one on top of the other. For example, a Steel Over Concrete indicates an all-steel structural system located on top of an all-concrete structural system, with the opposite true of Concrete Over Steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used within a composite building’s primary structural elements.

All-Concrete

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

132 m / 433 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
132 m / 433 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

32

Rankings

  • By Location
#
9291
Tallest in the World
#
233
Tallest in Oceania
#
96
Tallest in Melbourne

Construction Schedule

1987

Construction Start

1988

Completed

Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Harry Seidler and Associates
Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
Grocon

About 1 Spring Street

Originally known as Shell House, 1 Spring Street was erected as the third headquarters for the Shell Company of Australia Ltd and replaced the earlier headquarters buildings constructed in 1933 and 1958 and remained occupied by Shell until 2004. Located on an L-shaped site at the southeastern corner of the central Melbourne city grid, the curved façade turns the corner of the block, creating a bookend for the urban street wall facing the Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens at the edge of the traditional central business district, while maximizing views to the south and east. 1 Spring Street is the only completed high-rise project by Australian modernist architect Harry Seidler within the State of Victoria and was composed of simple geometry, typical of late twentieth century office towers with an emphasis on expressing the structure of the reinforced concrete building.

The main entrance of the building is located on a public plaza and is demarcated with a sculptural building pier facing the intersection of Spring and Flinders Streets. The office tower was constructed with repetitive floors utilizing a system of clear span beams of equal length; maintaining a 15 meter wide column free span from the perimeter wall to the internal building core. The top two office floors were designed as executive suites with terrace gardens positioned at two upper level setbacks. The façade is composed of concrete sheer walls to the north and west while windows were primarily positioned to the southeast and flanked by anti-glare aluminum shades to reduce solar heat gain. These passive sustainable design features were also supplemented by daylight sensors and motion detectors to activate interior lighting, and were innovative for their time.