Here, contemporary design and conceptions express our conviction that a central bank should develop with growing knowledge and a changing institutional structure and adapt its policies and techniques to the changing community within which it works".The Reserve Bank design is characteristic of buildings of this era on less constrained sites, where the architect utilised the opportunity to define the base from the shaft using a podium.

The facade of the tower had the structural and functional columns expressed as vertical Imperial black granite shafts with Wombeyan marble spandrel panels.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd-floor perimeter beams were faced with Wombeyan marble with a recessed glazed screen wall to the office areas behind a balcony.

Impressive aluminium decorative ceiling panels emphasised the structural bays of the ground floor public space and lift lobby.

[1] Prestige areas for the conduct of important company business in buildings of this period generally had ceilings treated in the same manner as general office ceilings, the exception being the board rooms and executive areas, as is the case in the Reserve Bank where shallow, curved plaster vaults enriched the space.

[1] Also included were two residential flats to accommodate senior executives travelling from interstate, a relatively uncommon feature for office buildings of this period.

[1] The building was the central distribution point for notes and coin for New South Wales and Papua New Guinea and the basement included the vaults or strongrooms.

[1] The service areas were designed for ease of cleaning and minimal maintenance with vinyl and ceramic tile finishes popular for both floors and walls.

Wallwashers were used in the Reserve Bank, where a perimeter strip of recessed fluorescents served to visually detach the ceiling from the wall in the passages and reception area.

The opposite effect, that gained by concealing strip fluorescents where they would throw light upwards onto the ceiling, was more uncommon but was used in the office of the Governor of the Reserve Bank.

Of note was the use of recessed downlights in the cafeteria, set into the interstices of the square grid formed by the shallow cast plaster domes.

Usually, in the major public area of an office building, elaborate decorative ceilings could be either integrated into the lighting design or the subject of it.

These included artworks specially commissioned for the public spaces, furniture, china, flatware, silverware, napery and accessories specifically selected or designed for use within the building.

The lift foyer features a wall relief by Bim Hilder and the freestanding podium sculpture in Martin Place is by Margel Hinder.

[1] Clay from the excavations for the Bank from its initial construction and c. 1974 extension was set aside for the production of a series of commemorative handcrafted pots.

Le Grand of Canberra, some were purchased by officers of the Bank and the others were used as decorative elements in the executive suites and remain in the building.

[1] On Macquarie Street was a setback created to enable the establishment of a formal Australian Native garden which was designed as the result of a public competition won by Melbourne architect, Malcolm Munro.

The Reserve Bank provides a notable example of a characteristic of buildings of this era on less constrained sites, where the architect utilised the opportunity to define the base from the shaft using a podium.

The building is entered via a bronzed railed grey and black granite terrace with steps to accommodate the site slope and adjacent footpath.

[1] The facade treatment of the building is distinctive and derives from both the modular design created to allow office subdivision which is expressed in the window mullions and the use of materials including the extensive use of natural stone.

The vertical columns faced in black granite and aluminium define the eight bays of the tower and extend up to form the supports for the balconies.

One section of it incorporates a six-inch piece of quartz crystal uncovered by geologist Ben Flounders in South Australia's Corunna Hills.

Other important elements include the brass lettering text of the Bank's 1959 charter set on a black granite wall in the main foyer; the opening commemorative plaque; the Bank emblem originally located on the western parapet wall of the building constructed in cast aluminium with green enamelled finish designed by Gordon Andrews (now removed); the portrait of Dr H. C Coombs, the first Governor by Louis Kahan purchased in 1964.

[1] The Canberra Branch building of the Reserve Bank was the result of an architectural competition, managed by the National Capital Development Commission.

[1] When constructed elements of the mechanical and electrical services within the building were considered advanced and innovative, and although many elements have been removed or substantially altered, their incorporation in the building is still of interest today, this included the fire sprinkler system, smoke detectors and fire alarms; interior and signage lighting; and airconditioning.

[1] The provision of two residential flats, for use by visitors to the bank; squash courts; and firing range were relatively uncommon for the time (all removed 2001).

[1] Criterion B: Rarity When constructed elements of the mechanical and electrical services within the building were considered advanced and innovative, and although many elements have been removed or substantially altered, their incorporation in the building is still of interest today, this included the fire sprinkler system, smoke detectors and fire alarms; interior and signage lighting; and airconditioning.

[1] The provision of two residential flats, for use by visitors to the bank; squash courts; and firing range were relatively uncommon for the time (all removed 2001).

[1] When constructed elements of the mechanical and electrical services within the building were considered advanced and innovative, and although many elements have been removed or substantially altered, their incorporation in the building is still of interest today, this included the fire sprinkler system, smoke detectors and fire alarms; interior and signage lighting; and airconditioning.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Reserve Bank, entry number 105456 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 23 September 2018.