A ceremony in North Sydney to celebrate construction of the new “Zurich Tower” was live streamed to the insurer’s head office in Switzerland last week.

The “topping-out” ceremony commemorated the structural completion of level 29, the highest floor of the building.

It was attended by Zurich’s CEO General Insurance Tim Plant and Chief Distribution Officer Life & Investments Kristine Brooks, as well as the insurer’s real estate heads Steve McDonald and Reto Buehler.

The 20,600 square metre building – at 118 Mount Street on the site of the old Zurich building – will later this year become the new headquarters for Zurich Financial Services Australia, which will occupy around two-thirds of the space as anchor tenant on a 10-year lease.

Zurich’s purpose-built headquarters includes a two-level podium, a lobby café, a rooftop terrace and three basement car parking levels. The completed project will boast three street frontages and 817-square-meter floor plates.