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Former Commonwealth Bank headquarters, 48 Martin Place

Inside the impressive former teller area at 48 Martin Place, which thousands of Sydneysiders walk past to work every day. The former headquarters of the Government Savings Bank of NSW and Commonwealth Bank is protected by the Heritage Council of NSW.

 

When completed in 1928, the bank had prominent scale and position in Sydney's banking district. Its banking chamber 'is detailed in an extravagant neo-Classical style, displaying substantial use of marble, and scagliola (marble-like polished plaster) on tremendous stylised columns.'

 

The architects were HE Ross and H Ruskin Rowe, Ross & Rowe. This is the building represented by the Commonwealth Bank money box tins with the brown and cream exterior (the yellow and green tin is at Pitt Street).

 

The building was acquired by Macquarie Bank in 2012 and subject to a makeover by architects Johnson Pilton Walker, and the construction firm Brookfield Multiplex.

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Uploaded on November 22, 2015
Taken on October 31, 2015