108 st georges terrace or south32 tower (formerly known as the bankwest tower, the bond tower and the r&i tower) is a 50-storey office tower in perth, western australia.completed in 1988, the building measures 214 metres (702 ft) to its roof and 247 metres (810 ft) to the tip of its communications antenna.it was the tallest building in perth from its completion in 1988 until 1992 when it was overtaken in height by central park.as of 2023, it is the third-tallest building in the city.the concrete tower has a distinctive profile, with a triangular plan.the site occupied by the tower was home to the palace hotel, and organised opposition was formed to try to save that building from demolition to make way for an office tower.the site was subsequently acquired by businessman alan bond and the tower was approved and constructed in a plan that would retain much of the palace hotel.the tower then remained the headquarters of bond's companies until their collapse.the tower has also been the headquarters of bankwest (formerly known as the r&i bank), between its completion and 2012.as of 2015, it is now the headquarters of mining company south32.the then-opulent palace hotel opened on this corner in 1897 during the days of the western australian gold rush, and developed a 'colourful' history, hosting numerous celebrities of the time.the plot was purchased by the commonwealth banking corporation, which announced in 1972 that it planned to redevelop the site as high-rise offices.during the 1950s and 1960s, many of perth's older buildings had been demolished to make way for modern developments, which led to wide criticism of the perth city council for approving such redevelopments.in this atmosphere, wide public protest resulted and a lobby group of concerned citizens calling themselves 'the palace guards' worked to save the historic building.this outcry led to condemnation of the plans and heritage listing of the property by the national trust, and forced the commonwealth bank to ask the federal government to take the property off its hands.the property was subsequently purchased from the commonwealth bank by businessman alan bond in 1978 along with the adjacent terrace arcade.these plans made some effort at preservation of the palace hotel, by retaining the facade and main foyer area of the building.however, the construction of the modern office tower at the site's north-eastern corner required demolition of terrace arcade, the eastern accommodation wing and the hotel's renowned dining room.the rationale given for the works required was that extensive renovations to the palace hotel in 1915 and the 1930s had weakened its structure significantly, as well as problems controlling white ants in the structure.the development exceeded the acceptable plot ratio in the town planning scheme, however the perth city council pre-approved the plans nonetheless, on the condition that bond corporation kept the palace hotel operating as a hotel.demolition of parts of the site commenced in august 1981, and by august 1983 construction had completed on the tower's foundation and three levels of underground parking.however, there were continuing doubts about the viability of the building, slowing the pace of the development.this changed on 7 september 1984 when r&i bank chairman david fischer signed a joint venture agreement over the development with austmark international, a subsidiary of bond corporation.the bank, which was at the time wholly owned by the government of western australia, consulted then-premier brian burke in deciding whether to invest in the project.following the investment in the project by the bank, the developers successfully sought modification of the original planning approval by the perth city council to allow the use of the palace hotel as a bank, rather than remaining as a public hotel.
108 st georges terrace | location | perth <tsp> perth | country | australia <tsp> 108 st georges terrace | floorcount | 50 <tsp> 108 st georges terrace | cost | 120 million australian dollars
108 st georges terrace or south32 tower (formerly known as the bankwest tower, the bond tower and the r&i tower) is a 50-storey office tower in perth, western australia.the bank, which was at the time wholly owned by the government of western australia, consulted then-premier brian burke in deciding whether to invest in the project.following the investment in the project by the bank, the developers successfully sought modification of the original planning approval by the perth city council to allow the use of the palace hotel as a bank, rather than remaining as a public hotel.