The building which was once the headquarters of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the precursor in law to the Reserve Bank of Australia), is located on the corner of Pitt Street and Moore Street (now Martin Place) in the Sydney central business district. It is no longer associated with the Bank.

The foundation stones were set on 14 May 1913 and the building completed on 24 July 1916. Several temporary premises were used for Commonwealth Bank activities during the construction of the building.

The Head Office building is easily recognisable by generations of Australians as it appeared on the popular money boxes sold by the Bank from the time of the building’s completion, which continued to be sold and given away by the new Commonwealth Banking Corporation through to the 1990s.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was constituted under an act of Parliament, on 22 December 1911, empowering it to perform both general and savings bank business. It opened for business, in mid-1912, with a £10,000 loan from the Commonwealth Treasury, which was paid back when the accounts of the Commonwealth Government transferred to the Commonwealth Bank shortly afterwards. The Bank was created to be independent and free from political control, as the Act vested complete control of the business in the Governor of the Bank. Denison SK Miller was the first to be appointed Governor of the Commonwealth Bank.

Sydney, not Melbourne

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia began in a small office in Collins Street, Melbourne. However, Miller quickly decided that Sydney, the largest city in the Commonwealth, should be the site of the Head Office rather than Melbourne, then the seat of the federal government. The first Sydney-based Head Office of the Commonwealth Bank was temporarily located on the ground floor of Stanway House in King Street.

Shortly after becoming Bank Governor, Miller contacted property auctioneers Hardie & Gorman who proposed a property on the corner of Pitt and Moore Streets as the best location for the Commonwealth Bank headquarters. The location was ideal for banking and government use as it was close to four major banks, the Government Savings Bank offices and the General Post Office.

The site was compulsorily acquired for £93,000 by the Commonwealth Government on 23 October 1912. Mr Henry Phippard was awarded the contract for building the Head Office premises, and architectural company Messrs John and Herwald Kirkpatrick, were given the contract for design and supervision of the construction works. The Kirkpatricks not only designed the Head Office building, but went on to plan several of the Bank’s branches, including those in other state capitals. Prior to being appointed Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, Denison Miller had taken a year off work (from the Bank of New South Wales) to travel overseas with his family. He visited Great Britain, Europe, Canada, and the United States where he studied the architecture of the banks and returned with ideas which he communicated to the Bank’s architects to be incorporated into the new building’s design.

Laying the foundation stones

Once the old buildings on the site had been demolished, including the Commonwealth Savings Bank premises at 3 Moore Street, the foundation stones for the headquarters building were laid on 14 May 1913. The ceremony was advertised to begin at 12 noon, but Prime Minister and Commonwealth Treasurer Andrew Fisher encountered difficulties during the train journey from Melbourne, resulting in a delay of almost an hour.

On arrival, Prime Minister Fisher officially set the first trachyte foundation stone with an ivory-handled gold trowel presented to him by Lord Mayor, Alderman AAC Cocks. A second gold trowel was then presented to the Governor of the Bank, Denison Miller, by the Premier and Colonial Secretary, JST McGowen, and the second foundation stone was set. The stones face each other on the Pitt Street side of the building.

Observing the ceremony was the Governor-General of Australia, Thomas, Baron Denman; the Attorney-General, William Morris Hughes MP; the Minister of State for External Affairs, Josiah Thomas MP; the Minister of State for Defence, Senator George Foster Pearce; Minister of State for Trade and Customs, Frank Gwynne Tudor MP; Minister of State for Home Affairs, King O’Malley MP; Postmaster General, Charles Edward Frazer MP; Vice President of the Executive Council, Senator Gregor McGregor; Senator Edward Findlay; and Ernest Alfred Roberts MP. Despite wind and rain, which blew several photographers off the ladders they were using as vantage points, many members of the public also attended. The Lord Mayor, Prime Minister, State Premier and Bank Governor gave speeches.

The Prime Minister declared ‘There would be erected a building which would be one of stability and beauty, pleasing to the eye and useful to the citizens, not only of Sydney, but of the whole Commonwealth …’ (RBA Archives 2018/07438, p 22).

Buried beneath the foundation stones are two jars, serving as time capsules. The first jar contains copies of five newspapers from 1913, copies of legislation including the Commonwealth Bank Act, No. 18, 1911, and a copy of Governor Denison Miller’s speech for the ceremony. The second jar contains two copies of newspapers dated 14 May 1913, a program for the setting of the Foundation Stones ceremony with a set of invitation cards, Australian and Imperial coins including two gold coins, nine silver coins, four copper coins and seven Australian banknotes.

A marquee, decorated with bunting, flags and multi-coloured electric lights, was erected for important visitors. Refreshments were served on two large buffet tables ornamented with chrysanthemums. After the ceremony the Governor hosted a celebratory luncheon at nearby Government House, which was attended by many of the country’s leading figures.

By December 1913, there were complaints published in newspapers as no further construction of the building had taken place and the site had become full of water. However, the building was completed within three years.

The building

The building was one of the first large-scale, steel-framed skyscrapers in Australia. The new ten-storey structure rose to the full-height allowed by the Height of Buildings Act 1912 (NSW), which prohibited the construction of any building higher than 150 feet.

Many of the building’s decorative elements were in Grecian Doric style, but its materials were nearly all Australian. When Australia entered the war with Germany in early August 1914, the builder and architect of the Bank agreed that no German products would be used. While much of the interior has since been renovated, the exterior of the building remains largely the same as it was when constructed. The main doorways are emphasised by Doric columns, with the Australian coat of arms above the Martin Place entrance, and the Commonwealth Bank’s coat of arms above the Pitt Street door.

The exterior walls feature polished trachyte piers, each with a carved shield. Six are carved with each of the six states of Australia, and the other three shields show the names of Governors-General Thomas, Baron Denman, and Sir Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson; Prime Ministers Andrew Fisher and William Morris Hughes; Treasurers Andrew Fisher and William Guy Higgs; Governor of the Bank, Denison Miller; and Deputy Governor of the Bank, James Kell. All of these men held office during the construction of the Bank building. The stones were specifically selected for quality and colour, and were quarried at Mount Gibraltar, in the southern highlands outside Sydney.

Alexandria-based builder, Henry Phippard, modernised his operation for the Bank building project, purchasing equipment such as steam engines and pneumatic tools in order to perform the work more efficiently and with less damage to materials. During the construction there were no fatalities or serious injuries concerning the workmen, bringing congratulations to all involved.

The floors of the building were made of reinforced concrete, the exterior walls of stone and brick with terracotta levelling and packing. The steel frame was encased in concrete, and no wood was used in the structure, to be as fire resistant as possible. The marble throughout the building was Australian marble from quarries near Rylstone, in central New South Wales. Fire-proof rubber matting with a Grecian design covered the Banking Chamber floor and some of the first and second floors, in order to dampen sound in these busy areas. The entrance and lift vestibules were laid with marble mosaic of Greek design.

Entrance corridors on each floor were fitted with fire-proof doors that swung closed automatically, on the melting of a fuse, to contain fire to that level. Steel hydraulic gates were fitted to the two Banking Chamber entrances, sliding down into position when needed, and controlled within sight from the ground floor to prevent accidents.

There were three public passenger elevators entered from the Moore Street (Martin Place) entrance and one in the centre of the Banking Chamber ran from the floors between the basement and Level four. They were of British manufacture, created specifically for the building.

The cost of construction for the building was priced at £164,457. It was always the intention that a proportion of this cost would be defrayed by leasing parts of the building to sections of the government to use as office space, with rents to be collected accordingly. Four floors were given over for the use of the Commonwealth Government, and two floors for the use of Commonwealth Departments. The intended lessees were consulted so that the layout and facilities in their areas would suit their needs.

The First World War was declared part way through building construction, and continued for some time after it was completed. Martin Place became the setting for successful campaigns that promoted the sale of War Loan Bonds, and later the Peace Loan Bonds, which consolidated the Bank’s role as a national institution and its association with patriotism in the minds of Australians. The building was also decorated and illuminated for the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York in 1919.

Floor directory

Facilities

Air-conditioning: The building had a system of electric fans, attached to sealed pipes, designed to draw in fresh air from outside while expelling stale air. Portable electric radiators were placed in specific locations around the building where it was estimated heat would be needed.

Clocks: The building was fitted with electric clocks, connected in series to a master clock which controlled them all.

Electrics: Most of the facilities throughout the building were powered by electricity. This included the lighting, telephones, fans, clocks, watchman telltale system (used by security patrols), hundreds of bells, teleautographs (electric writing machines), and time registers. Power points were installed in certain locations so that electric calculators could be connected to power using short flexible wires.

Kitchen: The building housed a modern electric kitchen with its own automatic elevator to communicate with floors below. The kitchen boasted a refrigerating chamber and ice-making machinery. It also had two hot cupboards for keeping food warm before serving, and ice cupboards in the servery for keeping food cool. Meat and vegetables had separate cool storerooms, and there was also a separate butcher’s workshop.

Library: The Head Office Staff Library was opened in March 1917. It was available to all staff in New South Wales who paid a 2/- annual subscription. Administration was by a Library Committee with a permanent staff position for one librarian. The library contained approximately 2,500 fiction works, 70 magazines, over 125 technical volumes (mostly financial in nature) and 100 miscellaneous works. The Bank supplied the educational section, while books on other topics were purchased with library funds.

Lighting: Opaque snow-white glass and frosted lamps were used for lighting to reduce glare from the electric bulbs.

Mail: A mail chute ran the full height of the building, with access for depositing letters in the lift vestibule on each floor. The letters travelled to a reception box on the ground floor which was cleared by the postal service at regularly scheduled times.

Pneumatic tube system: This enabled tellers in the ground floor Banking Chamber to send and receive items such as passbooks and cheques from the ledger keepers on the first floor, through a network of brass tubes. An eight horse power motor in the sub-basement operated a blower that made the system work. There were twenty receiving and twenty dispatching stations, with the system starting automatically when the door to a station was opened.

Safe deposit: The public safe deposit area in the Basement was built by well-known safe-making company Chubb. Access was via an attendant who opened a steel grille. Then there was a steel entrance door, which weighed 10 tonnes, and was fitted with a Quadruple Time Lock so that it could not be opened by any means, outside of regular business hours. The door also had a combination lock, and was set into a moving platform. Once inside, opening a safe deposit locker required both the renter of the box and the safe deposit attendant to be present as it was not possible for either to open it alone.

Security: Five night watchmen worked a ten hour shift each night, two outside, two inside, and one on patrol throughout the floors of the building. Returned soldiers were preferred, and were required to wear their military uniforms and carry their rifles. Applicants who were not returned soldiers were asked to enlist.

Surgery: The building housed a fully-equipped first aid surgery staffed by a qualified nurse.

Teleautographs: Installed in the Banking Chamber and on the first floor, these enabled tellers to communicate with other staff instantly. A pencil on the transmitter was connected to an electrical current so that it could capture the motions of a person writing and duplicate the writing in real time on a machine on another floor.

Telephones: Both wall-set and table-set telephones were installed throughout the building. A wall-set telephone on Level 7 was installed inside a sound-proof box to allow for private phone calls to be made. The Bank used a P.B.X. (Private Branch Exchange) switchboard and operating staff to connect calls. The main control board was fitted with the latest switches, and connected with the city service. It also had direct connections with Melbourne and other long distance stations. Initially staffed by the General Post Office, the Bank’s female staff were expected to familiarise themselves with the switchboard, officially taking over the work on 9 October 1916. At night, all telephone calls were answered by a messenger or nightwatchman from the Banking Chamber. The private home telephone number of the Governor and other principal officers of the Bank were listed in case they needed to be contacted after hours (RBA Archives BP-31-8, p 53).

Uniform: Female staff were required to wear a dark skirt and white blouse at all times when on duty.

Vacuum cleaning system: A ducted vacuum cleaning system was installed throughout the building in order to make cleaning more efficient. Inlets could be found on each floor to which hoses with an attachment (such as a brush) were inserted, and dust was sent through tubing inside the walls to eventually fall into a collection chamber in the sub-basement. Photographs in the collection illustrate the system in use. A total of 160 terminal points were arranged throughout the building so that only relatively short lengths of hose were needed, and cleaning could be done in the fastest manner possible.

Water: Due to the height of the building, water could not reach the top floors. To solve this problem, a steel tank of 15,000 imperial gallons (over 68,000 litres) was built on top of the building to supply water by gravity, assisted by an electrically-motored pump. An Australian invention provided a continuous, electrically heated, hot water supply throughout the building.

Opening ceremony

The building’s official opening on 22 August 1916 filled Martin Place with crowds so large that police were employed as crowd-control with barriers erected to assist.

The ceremony began at 12 noon. Bank Governor, Denison Miller presented a gold key to the Governor-General, Sir Ronald Craufurd Munro-Ferguson, who used it to unlock the main door to the Bank building on Pitt Street. James Kell (Deputy Bank Governor) then presented a gold key to the Prime Minister, William Morris Hughes, who opened the Moore St (now Martin Place) entrance to the Bank. The group then entered the Banking Chamber, with the public streaming in after them. Acting Sydney Manager of the Bank, Mr Young, then presented the Treasurer, MP WG Higgs, with a signet ring containing a hidden gold key with which he opened the door to the Bank’s main strongroom. Following this, the Melbourne Bank Manager JS Scott presented Mrs Miller (wife of Bank Governor Denison Miller) with a bracelet concealing a gold key, which was used to open the Safe Deposit area.

Shortly afterwards, an address was given from the Banking Chamber balcony with the Governor-General, Prime Minister, Treasurer, State Governor (Sir Gerald Strickland), Bank Governor and building architect John Kirkpatrick presenting themselves for public view. The first speech was from the Governor-General, who noted that Ministers would no longer have to travel to Melbourne to have meetings as space was allotted to them in the new Bank building. Then came a speech by the Prime Minister, William Hughes, who emphasised the service of the Bank in the war effort.

The Treasurer then spoke, followed by Bank Governor Denison Miller who called the building ‘… one of the most up-to-date Banking Houses in the world’ (RBA Archives 2018/07438, p 20). He congratulated the building contractors in that there had been no fatalities or serious injuries incurred during construction. Miller also announced that to celebrate the opening of the new Head Office building, all staff and employees of the Bank would receive a ten per cent bonus, which was also to be paid to those staff currently away on military service.

Led by Prime Minister Hughes, everyone gave three cheers for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The assembled crowd, said to number in the thousands, was then allowed to go through the building to inspect it, and refreshments were served in the hall on the ninth floor.

A gold key was sent to London to be presented to Commonwealth High Commissioner, Andrew Fisher, the former Prime Minister whose government had created the Commonwealth Bank, selected Denison Miller to be its Governor and who had personally laid one of the foundation stones for the building. The key was presented to Fisher by London Manager, Mr CAB Campion, in the presence of Sydney Manager, Mr Hulle, and others.

On 23 August, a Staff Night was held for staff to celebrate the opening of the new building. During the evening, Governor Miller was presented with a gold key, created by Messrs Chubb & Sons, which was handed to him by Mr Young, Acting Sydney Manager. Miller was also presented with an oil portrait of himself, painted by Norman Carter, on behalf of all Commonwealth Bank staff in Australia and its overseas branches. Decades later, this painting was donated to the Reserve Bank by Miller’s family, and is still in its collection today.

The Bank had organised for the opening of the new premises, including a tour through the building, to be filmed by Mr Percival of Australasian Films Limited. The first showing of the film was held at the Lyceum Theatre, Pitt Street, Sydney on Thursday 5 October at 3.30 pm. Invitations, with tickets, were sent out on behalf of the Governor. The dress circle was reserved for invited guests, but the general public were admitted into other areas. One part of the film, focused on the crowds, estimated that 3,000 people had attended the opening of the building.

Building extensions 1931–1933

The Bank expanded its operations quickly and soon needed more space. Accordingly, more property surrounding the existing Bank building was purchased and demolished to allow this. The building was remodelled and extended, in the same Grecian style as the original section, beginning in 1931.

This information is drawn from records held by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the following external sources:

Daily Telegraph (1913). The Commonwealth Bank. Foundation Stones Laid. In Pouring Rain. Some Brief Speeches. Thursday 15 May 1913, p.11.

Gollan, R (1968). The Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Origins and Early History, ANU Press.

Faulkner, CC (1923). The Commonwealth Bank of Australia. A Brief History of its Establishment, Development and Service to the People of Australia and the British Empire under Sir Denison Miller, K.C.M.G. Governor. June 1^st, 1912 – June 6^th, 1923.

Reserve Bank of Australia. A Brief History. Accessed at: https://www.rba.gov.au/about-rba/history/

Reserve Bank of Australia (2015) Save & Serve: The Bank and World War I.

Overview of the records we hold relating to this topic, including records not yet available on Unreserved.