140 William Street, Melbourne

140 William Street, Melbourne
Building façade from William Street
Interactive map of the 140 William Street, Melbourne area
Record height
Tallest in Melbourne from 1972 to 1975[I]
Preceded byMarland House
Surpassed byOptus Centre
General information
Location140 William Street, Melbourne, Australia
Coordinates37°48′57″S 144°57′31″E / 37.8158°S 144.9586°E / -37.8158; 144.9586
Completed1972
Height
Height152.5 metres (500 ft)
Technical details
Floor count41
Design and construction
ArchitectYuncken Freeman
EngineerIrwinconsult
Fazlur Rahman Khan

140 William Street (formerly BHP House) is a 41-storey, 152.5-metre-tall skyscraper located in the western end of the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. Constructed between 1969 and 1972, BHP House was designed by the architectural practice Yuncken Freeman, alongside the engineering consultancy Irwinconsult, with heavy influence from contemporary skyscrapers in Chicago. The local architects sought technical advice from Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, of renowned American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, spending ten weeks at its Chicago office in 1968. At the time of its completion, BHP House became Melbourne's first skyscraper, as defined by standard height measurements, and the second-tallest building in Australia. It remained Melbourne's tallest building until the completion of the Optus Centre in 1975. Additionally, it was the first office building in Australia to use a "total energy concept" – the generation of its own electricity using BHP natural gas. The name "BHP House" came from the building being the national headquarters of BHP. BHP House has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register since 1998 for its architectural, historical and technological significance to the state of Victoria.