Chifley Tower
Sydney's tallest building for 27 years — until three rivals overtook it between 2020 and 2022.
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A 244-metre, 53-storey tower by New York firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, built on a plot where Sydney's northern and southern street grids collide at mismatched angles. Below it sits Chifley Square, a plaza conceived as a Parisian Haussmannian geometry to finally connect Elizabeth Street through to Circular Quay — a plan the city spent decades trying to realize.
What to look for
- The irregular tower footprint, a direct consequence of two skewed street grids meeting at the site
- Chifley Square plaza, the geometric public space meant to fix the awkward junction of Elizabeth and Phillip Streets
- Qantas House to the northwest (completed 1957), its curved facade built specifically to conform to the planned plaza shape
Stands at Hunter and Elizabeth Streets, where Elizabeth Street terminates; Phillip Street continues north from here to Circular Quay.
Chifley Tower is one of 23 sights worth the detour in Sydney, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Sydney pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Sydney
- Sydney Opera HouseJørn Utzon won the design competition in 1957, directed construction, then resigned before it ever opened — Queen Elizabeth II cut the ribbon on 20 October 1973.
- Sydney Harbour BridgeWalk the arch of the world's tallest steel bridge — nicknamed "the Coathanger" — with Sydney Harbour spread out below you and the arch top rising 134 m above the water.
- Accor StadiumBuilt in 1999 for A$690 million, this was the largest Olympic stadium ever constructed — originally squeezing in 115,000 people.
- Sydney Tower EyeAt 309 m above the CBD, this is the highest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere by deck elevation — clearing Auckland's Sky Tower by nearly 30 m.
- Australian MuseumThe world's fifth oldest natural history museum has been in Sydney since 1827 — older than the colony could really afford it.
- Taronga ZooFive thousand animals on the Mosman shore — and the Sydney skyline watches from across the water.