Sydney Tower
The Sydney Tower (AMP Tower or Centrepoint Tower) is the tallest building in Sydney and the second tallest in Australia. It is 309 meters or 1,001 feet tall. Australians refer to the tower as “the needle that pierces the sky”.The TV Tower is also the second tallest observation tower in the entire Southern Hemisphere, behind the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand. However, the observation deck of the Sydney TV Tower is 50 meters higher than the Sky Tower, allowing a bird’s eye view of the panorama of the huge city with its many skyscrapers, the Blue Mountains, the dazzling ocean and Sydney Bay with its ships.
Video: Sydney Tower
Construction
The building was designed in 1970 and construction continued for 6 years, from 1975 to 1981. The unique project took 36 million Australian dollars to complete. The chief architect of the building was Donald Krohn. At that time, the Sydney Tower was the tallest building not only in Australia, but also in the entire Southern Hemisphere. It was not until 1997 that its record was broken by New Zealand’s Sky Tower.
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The Sydney Tower was originally 305 meters tall. In 1998, a lightning rod was added to the top of the spire, after which it rose to 309 meters. The powerful concrete structure is stabilized by 56 cables stretched around the tower’s trunk.
Sydney natives refer to the tower as Centrepoint. This is not surprising, as it was officially named as such in the early years after it was built. Then the AMP acronym was added to the front of the building, and Centrepoint was renamed AMP Tower. After Westfield Group acquired the tower in December 2001, it became known as “Sydney Tower.”.
Tourists
Like most high-rise structures of its kind, the Sydney Tower, in addition to its primary functions of television and radio broadcasting, is a popular entertainment center, attracting thousands of tourists each year.
The tower has 3 main sections:.- An enclosed observation deck at a height of 250 meters. It offers a magnificent 360-degree view. The observation deck has a small souvenir shop and a scoreboard where you can always find out the status of the tower, wind speed and atmospheric pressure. The open area with a glass floor is the Skywalk platform. It is located 18 meters above the closed observation platform. Its visit is included in special tours, which may also include a virtual trip across Australia – Oz Trek.
- The restaurant seats 220 people. It is located below the main observation deck. It is visited by over 185,000 people each year, of which at least 50,000 are foreigners.
These sections together form the Golden Basket, an 8-story glass tower that gives the entire structure a graceful, memorable silhouette.
.The tower has a maximum capacity of 960 people. The climb up is carried out by 3 double-deck high-speed elevators, which can take visitors to the observation deck in 40 seconds. An alternative to the elevator is to climb a staircase consisting of 1,054 steps.
.By the way, there is an annual championship on the high-speed climb to the top of the tower. The record, set in 1998, is 6 minutes and 52 seconds and has not been broken to this day.
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The Sydney Tower houses a large number of different stores offering tourists interesting goods and themed souvenirs. Sometimes the tower is used to launch fireworks, and on Christmas and New Year’s holidays it is beautifully illuminated with colorful lights.
.Sydney Tower is open daily from 9.00am to 10.30pm. Tickets cost $25 for an adult and $15 for a child. Discounts are available for students and senior citizens.
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