ICI House

Brief information

ICI House is important not for its height in itself, but because in Australia it became the first skyscraper in the International Style. It was built from 1955 to 1958, and for postwar Melbourne such an office building signaled a new urban norm: a major company asserted itself through austere high-rise architecture rather than through a palatial facade or decorative show of status.

The source text links the building with the turn toward office high-rises that later transformed the centers of major Australian cities. ICI House should therefore be read as an early example of the future business district. A fact from the National Heritage List, to which the building was added on September 25, 2005, changes how it is viewed: it is not simply an old office building, but a state-recognized trace of an architectural shift.

What to notice first

The source gives few specific details about the facade, materials, and layout, so it is better to keep the focus on confirmed features. Three things can be compared: its twenty-story height, office function, and International Style. Together they explain why the building was perceived as a sign of modernity and efficiency: its form served the image of a major postwar corporation.

It is also worth noting the origin of its structural model. ICI House was designed according to corporate design models first used in the United Nations headquarters in the United States. This connection matters not as a famous name, but as a clue to reading the building: what stands before the visitor is a local version of an international office language. The detailing was handled by Douglas Gardiner, a partner at Bates Smart; this fact helps us see the building as carefully conceived corporate architecture rather than an incidental high-rise.