Commonwealth Bank Tempe

Built in 1940 this double storeyed, cement rendered brick building in the familiar ‘Commonwealth Bank Art Deco’ style of the times, featured a ground floor banking chamber with a Manager’s residence on the first floor.

An unusual feature of the design of the building, located at 838-840 Princes Highway in Tempe, was the three rounded external walls with glass brick windows and the flat roofs, one leading to a roof garden. This style of architecture evolved in the Architectural Branch of the Commonwealth Department of the Interior who were the main architects the Bank used for its building construction up the late 1950s.

In December 1989 the bank sold the building but retained tenancy from 1990 for an initial 5 year period. In October 1996 the branch was closed.

Main entrance detail

The bank in 1940

New signage in 1992

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Sources:

• Commonwealth Bank Archive Department

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