The Central Bank’s Building
 

The Central Bank of Chile was created on August 22, 1925, and, since it did not have its own building, it began operating in a rented old branch of the Bank of Santiago, located on the corner of Agustinas and Ahumada streets in the capital’s center.

However, due to the high level of its activities, it was soon necessary to find a more appropriate place in terms of space and security. For this reason, a site of 3,926 square meters belonging to the Savings Bank of Santiago was acquired, where a building was built especially for this purpose on the corner of Agustinas and Morandé streets, in which the Central Bank operates until today.

In August 1926, after a design contest the preliminary project elaborated by Alberto Cruz Montt together with his collaborator Miguel Dávila was chosen, with a proposal suited to the functions and requirements of the future institutional building, of simple and balanced lines, whose construction began in March 1927 and was delivered in December 1928, opening its doors to the public on the 17th of that month.

Later, it was expanded in the 1940s by the architects Smith Solar & Smith Miller, doubling its Agustinas Street façade.

The style of the building is eclectic neoclassicism and reflects the typological tradition of English bank buildings, which is expressed in the façade, composed of large-scale pilasters, and the decoration of interior spaces, where the use of bronze and marble stands out.

The large bronze-coated door is one of the building’s most striking and renowned features, as it is 6.2 meters high by 3.5 meters wide and weighs 6 tons, according to documents from that period.

The second and most recent intervention took place between October 2016 and February 2018, in the 90th anniversary of its construction. The project’s objective was to preserve the value of the building as a part of Chile’s architectural heritage and to ensure its conservation for future generations. To this end, coatings, stuccoes, ornaments and bronze windows were repaired and recovered, as well as cracks in its exterior façade which posed a hazard for passers-by. A team of experts also carried out an exhaustive and rigorous recovery of the main door.

The Bank’s premises are classified as a Historical Conservation building, a designation that protects buildings of national, historical and architectural importance.