Orica House

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox building

|image= File:Orica House.jpg

|caption= Orica House in 2007

|name= Orica House

|location_city= 1 Nicholson Street, Melbourne

|location_country= Australia

|coordinates={{coord|-37.809|144.97344|format=dms|scale:2000_type:landmark_region:AU|display=inline,title}}

|architect= Bates Smart McCutcheon

|client= Imperial Chemical Industries

|engineer=

|construction_start_date= 1955

|completion_date= 1958

|date_demolished=

|cost=

|structural_system=81 metres, 20 floors

|style= International style

}}

1 Nicholson St. (formerly ICI House) is a 19-storey office building in Nicholson Street, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.{{Cite web |last=Saunders |first=Lindsay |date=2023-11-03 |title=Australia’s First Skyscraper Changes Hands |url=https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/orica-building-east-melbourne-sold |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.theurbandeveloper.com |language=en}} Begun in 1955 to house the headquarters of the Australian subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries (since spun off as an independent public company and renamed Orica), it was the tallest building in Australia upon completion in 1958.{{cite web|url=http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/reports/report_place_local/391#:~:text=ICI%20House%20on%20the%20corner%20of%20Albert%20and,in%20height%20controls%20in%20the%20city%20of%20Melbourne|format=pdf|title=Victorian Heritage Database Report ICI HOUSE|publisher=Victorian Heritage|access-date=24 Jan 2025}} It broke Melbourne's longstanding 132 ft height limit and was the first International Style skyscraper in the country.{{Cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/ici-building/index.html |title=Australian National Heritage listing for the ICI Building |access-date=2013-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828170325/http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/ici-building/index.html |archive-date=2013-08-28 |url-status=live |df= }} It symbolised progress, modernity, efficiency and corporate power in postwar Melbourne, and heralded the construction of the high-rise office buildings, changing the shape of Australia's major urban centres forever.

The building's design, by Osborn McCutcheon (of Bates Smart McCutcheon) was closely modelled on the best of corporate design being pioneered in the United States with all-glass high-rise such as the United Nations headquarters. Detail and documentation of the building's design was managed by Douglas Gardiner who was a partner of BSM.[http://architecture.com.au/docs/default-source/vic-notable-buildings/full-citation.pdf?sfvrsn=0 Architectural Heritage of the 20th century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215054211/http://architecture.com.au/docs/default-source/vic-notable-buildings/full-citation.pdf?sfvrsn=0 |date=2014-02-15 }} Retrieved 31 July 2013.[https://web.archive.org/web/20161008220026/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/07/melbourne-australia-first-skyscraper-ici-orica-house Melbourne's bold leap upwards: the inside story of Australia’s first skyscraper] The Guardian 7 September 2016

The building made headlines soon after construction as panes of the coloured glass shattered and fell to the street below due to impurities and the heat of Melbourne's summers.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080106054520/http://www.theage.com.au/news/carbone--money/when-the-price-is-too-good/2006/02/23/1140670207776.html When the price is too good] The Age 24 February 2008

It is one of the few post-war office buildings to be found on the Victorian Heritage Register, and the first to be added.{{Cite VHD|391|ICI House|hr=786|ho=165}}