Is it the ‘Dalek’ or the ‘Kevin’? Debate rages about Sydney’s new skyline monster

When you’re building a landmark new 39-storey office building in Sydney’s CBD, what could possibly go wrong? 

Budget blowouts? 

Maybe. 

Timeframe delays? 

Potentially.

An unforeseen logo issue leading to the new building being compared to a giant dalek or Minion rampaging across the city?

In the case of Macquarie’s new office tower – very likely.

There’s been plenty of social media commentary in recent days about Macquarie’s new head office, which is being delivered as part of the Metro Hunter St station precinct.

The recent placement of Macquarie’s logo on the tower’s dome has given the building, let’s say, a certain personality.

When viewed from halfway across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the new building has an uncanny appearance to a giant dalek looming behind other skyscrapers and seemingly on a destructive and evil path towards Sydney’s world famous harbour.

Some Kirribilli locals, located on the other side of the harbour, wondered if they had something to fear.

“Has anyone else noticed the Darlek heading our way…..  ‘exterminate’…,” said Stephen Kibble in a post to Facebook community group Kirribilli Connections.

“I noticed it from the bridge the other day and declared .. ‘exterminate’. The passengers in my car were confused until they saw it,” a group member said in response.

Others, however, believe the building’s eye-like logo and circular head-like dome has more in common with the goggle-eyed minions from the Despicable Me movie series.

This idea is really close to the mark, given that in the 2015 animated movie Minions one of the minion creatures (Kevin) grows to a gigantic size and runs amok through the buildings and streets of central London.

“It’s Kevin,” one social media poster said. 

“The new Macquarie Bank office Minion,” said another.

“I went to Melbourne for one week and came back to this. Where did it come from and why is no one questioning it,” said another poster.

A newly-created Reddit stream has also discussed a range of other potential characters, including R2-D2, the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings and the Death Star from Star Wars.

What seems almost certain is that Sydney has a new nicknamed building on its hands.

In the 1990s, as a Daily Telegraph urban affairs reporter, I covered the significant public debate about the newly-constructed East Circular Quay development. Being located near the Opera House, many feared the building had despoiled a city dress circle location.

One day, I conducted vox pop interviews with people at West Circular Quay about what they thought of the building. 

‘It looks like a giant toaster,’ one tourist opined. The name has stuck to this day.

Since that time, the name Packer’s Penis has also stuck for the new Barangaroo casino, apartment and hotel building, overlooking Darling Harbour.  In 1985, Sydney arts and cultural figure Leo Schofield also called Sydney’s Centrepoint Tower a giant “smoker’s stand”.

Overseas, New Zealand’s Parliamentary building is almost universally known as the Beehive, while office towers in London have been blessed with names such as the Shard, Gherkin and Walkie Talkie.

And now Sydney has another landmark – it’s just that we need to choose whether to call it the ‘Dalek’ or the ‘Kevin’.

My vote? It’s the ‘Dalek’ for me – but who will be playing the parts of Dr Who and Rose to save the city?