Nauru House, Office skyscraper in Melbourne Central Business District, Australia
Nauru House is a 52-storey office tower at 80 Collins Street in Melbourne, completed in 1977. Its pale grey concrete facade has two wide, slightly angled outer columns and a narrower central section, separated by deep vertical grooves and crossed by dark recessed window bands. The red "AON" sign sits near the flat top, and a dark glass tower stands immediately to its right.
Nauru purchased the land in 1972 for 19 million dollars using profits from phosphate mining as part of an international investment strategy. The project reflected how Pacific island nations sought to develop assets in major global cities during the 1970s.
The tower's nickname, Birdshit Tower, comes from Nauru's phosphate wealth, earned from seabird guano exports. Its address, 80 Collins Street, comes from the gap left when Ogg's Chemist and a terrace at 80 Collins were demolished, while Lillian Wightman refused to sell the Le Louvre boutique at 72-74 Collins Street.
The tower stands at 80 Collins Street, on the corner of Exhibition and Little Collins streets, with the dark glass 80 Collins South Tower directly beside it. The pale grey facade is wrapped in matte-grey aluminium applied in 1991 over the original pebble-finished concrete. Look up near the flat top for the red "AON" lettering mounted on both upper faces.
Locals call it the Birdshit Tower, a nickname earned because Nauru's phosphate wealth came from seabird droppings exported from the island. The building's address, 80 Collins Street, comes from the gap left when Ogg's Chemist and neighbouring terraces were demolished in 1972.
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