OPEN HOUSE PERTH - 3 - QV1 BUILDING

Next on the Open House Perth tour is the iconic QV1  building.
QV1 actually stands for "Quo Vadis" which means "Where are you going" and the number 1 is the answer - at the top and leading the way - and not Queen Victoria 1st, as is generally assumed, just like I did!

This is true of a building that is a landmark in building technology in Australia, prompting it's designer to describe the QV1 as "the best building he had ever built".
The building on 250 St George's Terrace, was designed by Australia's most awarded architect - Harry Sidler. 
Completed in 1991, the granite and glass tower is 159mt high, the 4th tallest tower in Perth, with 43 floors, 38 occupied by offices, 2 plant rooms, basement and sub-basement with parking space and a rooftop floor. There are two levels of retail shops, and landscaped areas occupying 25% of the space, which include a waterfall and pond, where the office workers can relax. It has 18 passenger lifts, 1 goods lift, 1 retail lift, 2 car park lifts and 2 escalators.

Its modern design of angles and curves has a lot of futuristic technology - a reinforced concrete core spanning 21,5mt on each side and columns on the perimeter of the building allow for open space floors with 1650 sqm each without being broken by any internal columns. The sun shading system on south windows saves on estimated cooling costs of $70,000 per year. Each floor has it's own air-conditioning so there is no waste of energy to cool or heat empty floors, there are landscaped balcony gardens on the south side and the top two floor have luxury penthouse offices with landscaped terraces. There are movable "walls" that run on tracks in each floor that enable the making of bigger or smaller venues.
A fully equipped gym, tennis courts, showers, bicycle lock up facilities and 360 degree views add to the well-being of it's tenants.
The imposing entry lobby is 14mt high with marble floors and travertine clad walls.

The famous glass skirt shields the entry lobby from the sun

The marble Lobby

Looking towards the garden area

Large open spaces without supporting columns

The lift corridor with natural light at each end

The super quick lifts took us to the 37th floor where you can see an example of a curved stair case that softens the hard angles of the building.

On the 37th floor

A meeting room at the top

A lovely terrace on the 37th floor 

The grey tower of BHP building, the second highest in Perth

View over the Esplanade busport and train station and River swan

View over Kings Park and suburb of East Perth

Swan River and Narrows bridge into the suburb of South Perth

Parliament House can just be seen on the right corner

The flaps that shield the building's windows from the sun on South side

This photo taken in 2006 when family visited (Mom and nephews here) shows the cascade and pond

The north side of the building

Next post will be about the tallest building in Perth - Perth Central. Hope you enjoyed getting to know QV1, an amazing piece of architecture and modern commodities.