Once upon a time, two buildings stood where the current Myer Sydney City store stands. From 1995-1998 the to buildings were basically gutted and rebuilt whilst trade went on, and the current Sydney Central Plaza basically bears no resemblance or even any evidence of the two buildings which once were. In 2003 Myer even sold the building itself to the Westfield Group and thus not even Myer lives in its own building anymore; it is just a mere tenant.
The atrium for want of a better word is a five level cavity within the building. Given that the space between floors is also over-sized, that space is probably close to what would be seven stories tall in any other building.
This photograph doesn't quite do the gaping chasm justice because it foreshortens the view quite a lot. I don't suffer from vertigo but I can tell you that looking downwards into that space, you certainly develop a very healthy respect for gravity in a hurry.
If you try to look closely (even on the 5 megapixel version) it is very difficult to make out what the people down there are having for lunch. They are of course completely oblivious to the fact that someone five levels up is taking a photograph, although having said that, it's also pretty difficult to make out that they even have faces from up here.
I think that they were able to build such a massive hole without disturbing the foundations of other buildings and services which run underground is quite remarkable. If you were to make a list of the city's most impressive structures, this hole would make the top ten.
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