Rialto Towers, Skyscraper in Melbourne, Australia.
Rialto Towers is a skyscraper complex at 525 Collins Street in Melbourne's central business district, made of two conjoined towers: the South Tower rises 251 m with 55 floors, the North Tower 185 m with 43 floors. Its facades are clad in reinforced blue-tinted mirrored glass in a dense grid of mullions, and the glass shifts from dark blue to gold at sunset.
Construction began in 1982 and was completed in 1986, making it the Southern Hemisphere's tallest office building at that time. The site previously housed Victorian-era structures whose elements were incorporated into the new tower.
The Rialto name comes from the 1891 Rialto Building by William Pitt, which stands beside the towers on Collins Street. Its neighbour, the 1890 Winfield Building by Charles Debro and Richard Speight, was also kept. Both were listed by the Historic Buildings Preservation Council in 1974, and their rear wings were rebuilt as a hotel with an atrium between them.
The complex occupies the block between Collins Street and Flinders Lane at 525 Collins Street, with five basement levels of parking for occupiers and casual users. The 2015–17 Woods Bagot podium added ground-level retail and a glass-roofed internal area linking the towers to the Victorian Rialto building. Level 55, once the observation deck, now holds the Vue de Monde restaurant and Lui Bar.
From the 1980s until 2005, the tower hosted an annual stair climbing competition where participants raced up to the 53rd floor. This event made the building a noted venue for this unusual athletic challenge.
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