The Rialto Tower, located in Melbourne, is the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere, and the second tallest reinforced concrete building, if you count the height to the roof.
The Rialto is actually two separate buildings. At the end of the 19th century the site where the towers now stand, there were a number of public establishments. Among them was the Rialto Office Building, built in 1889 and later which later gave its name to the skyscrapers. Today, this old building sits next to the towers.
Construction of the office complex began in 1982 and lasted 4 years. The south tower is 251 metres high and has 63 floors. The north tower is lower at 185 metres and has 43 floors. On the 55th floor of the south tower, from 1994 to 2009, there was a viewing platform, which became Melbourne's first skyscraper deck. In good In good weather, the observation deck offered a view of up to 60 kilometres. You could get up to the observation deck by one of two high-speed lifts or a staircase of 1,450 steps. Today, there is a restaurant on the site of the observation deck, which offers a marvellous view of the city and the Yarra River.
And on the stairs of the "Rialto" every year run participants in the competition "Race up the steps", and the winner gets a trip to New York to compete in a similar event at the Empire State Building.
