Modernist former bank building from 1940s proves adaptable North Terrace, Adelaide city, heritage gateway
The former Bank of New South Wales/Wespac building (far right) on the North Terrace-King William Street corner, Adelaide city, the successor an earlier Bank of New South Wales head office on the same site from the 1890s (top image in inset) entered another post-bank era from 2013 with a remodelled foyer and a rooftop bar (middle and bottom images in inset).
Foyer image courtesy DASH Architects
The former Bank of New South Wales/Westpac building anchored the gateway corner of North Terrace and King William Street, Adelaide city, from 1942 undergoing a series of phases and earning a South Australian state heritage listing in 2013.
The building, a foremost example of early modern high-rise offices, was the successor to an earlier two-storey Bank of New South Wales building on that site from the 1890s. Constructed between 1939 and 1942 by Hansen and Yuncken Pty Ltd, with engineering by Hurren, Langman and James of Adelaide, the second nine-level Bank of New South Wales (later Westpac) Bank state head office building was significant for its modern expression of inter-war commercial multi-storey architecture and as the only large example of the inter-war stripped classical architecture in Adelaide.
Its main features were symmetrical classical composition but with minimal classical ornamentation, giving an austere look and the refinement of “jazz” and “waterfall” elements typical of its time. The facades used South Australian Waikerie and Ramco limestone, and Victorian Dromana granite. The window frames and doors were originally bronze but the upper floor windows were refitted with bronze anodised aluminium frames.
The design by architect Jack McConnell resisted the art deco style so strong in the 1930s but opted for modernism more advanced than Savings Bank of South Australia (later BankSA) head office and the CML building in King William Street of the same era. McConnell was a partner in the firm Philip R. Claridge, Hassell and McConnell that was working with Louis Laybourne Smith.
McConnell studied architecture at Melbourne University 1930-35 and his lecturers included noted modernist Leighton Irwin who designed the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in the stripped classical style in 1935. In 1937, McConnell, 24, was working for Melbourne firm of Edward F. Billson, when he accepted a job with Philip Claridge in Adelaide specifically to help design the-then Bank of New South Wales.
In 1939, McConnell joined Claridge and Colin Hassell to form Hassell, Claridge and McConnell, later a leading architectural firm in South Australia. McConnell also achieved wide acclaim for his work’s influence on younger architects and he was thought to be the most notable architect of the modern movement in South Australia.
The North Terrace- King William Street building was vacated by Westpac for bigger premises in 2007. When plans lapsed to turn it into accommodation, Adelaide DASH heritage architects were engaged in 2013 to refurbish the six-storey building to incorporate two restaurants, a bar and office space. The original plant room and utility space on the roof was transformed into the 2KW rooftop bar.
The dual-storey bank foyer created challenges for the architects attempting to make the site earthquake compliant. The large expanse of the room provided a floating disconnect between the basement and first floor, with heritage laws adapted to achieve compliance. Among other adaptions, the original vault and bank safe space were transformed into toilets and portals of the windows were dropped to street level. Heritage architect David Holland told ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio that the project was “a poster child for what can be done with heritage buildings."