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July 2, 2018

Allendale Square endures

Allendale Square has received the Richard Roach Jewell Award for Enduring Architecture at the 2018 WA Architecture Awards. This is the second year running that a building designed by our practice has received this award  – in 2017 it was won by the Reid Library. We are very proud of our practice’s significant architectural heritage and contribution to the built fabric of our city. We would like to thank the 2018 jury and share their statement on Allendale Square:

Opened in 1977, the 33 storey Allendale Square rapidly became a benchmark for all the other Perth CBD towers to achieve. It remains a timeless example of late twentieth century modern architecture.

Allendale Square’s beauty is in its restrained and elegant simplicity, in its planning and the resolution of its facades.

Designed by Cameron Chisholm and Nicol, and built by Multiplex, Allendale was the tallest aluminium structure in Australia, its panels fabricated by Perth’s nascent aluminium industry and represented a growing confidence in the local construction sector.

The architects’ bold move to rotate the tower plan 45 degrees and present a vertex to St George’s Terrace accentuates the building’s slenderness and height. The rotated plan and its faceted elevations of glass and aluminium have created a remarkably transparent and energy efficient building.

The tower form simply lands at street level creating a plaza conceived to allow the building to be viewed freely from all sides. Additional tenancies are tucked into the edges of the site, including a 275- seat church, that, designed on the diagonal to complement the tower form is a hidden gem within the city.

When opened, the building foyer was the height of elegance with its red carpet and marble clad columns.

The structure spans from core to facade, creating column free offices. Other innovations included the fastest lifts of the day, Perth’s first VAV system with economy cycle and heat reclamation from its light fittings.

Allendale Square has continuously maintained its place as a premium A grade office tower in the city and is a deserving winner of the Enduring Architecture Award.

The building was highly awarded in its day, receiving the 1977 Alcoa Award, the 1978 RAIA Architecture Design Award, the 1978 Energy Conservation Award and the 1981 RAIA Bronze Medal. An article on the building detailing its design features, technical innovations and environmental performance can be found here.

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