Auditorium at Bankstown RSL, a vast ballroom stretches toward a darkened stage at the far wall.

Series · 30 prints

Bankstown RSL

Photographed 2019
Frames 30
Camera NIKON D850
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Demolished March 2019
Years 1955 to 2019
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Bankstown RSL Club's 1955 clubhouse stood at the corner of Meredith Street, Bankstown, for sixty-four years before its closure on 15 January 2019 and demolition that March. The sub-Branch had been founded in 1928 by twenty-six returned servicemen of the 1914 to 1918 war. The new club opened on the same site six days after the old one closed.

The 1955 building was the kind of suburban RSL that defined postwar Australia: blue walls, bright red ceilings, an underground pool, a squash court, a gym and sauna in the basement, and a Denis Phillips memorial painting beside the staircase carrying an AIF rising sun, an eternal flame, and a tropical fish tank below. The land was sold to Poly Australia in 2017 and the building closed on 15 January 2019. Spring Square, the redevelopment that replaced it, was approved in April 2019: five hundred and sixteen to five hundred and twenty apartments across one fourteen-storey and four eleven-storey towers. Paul Keating cited Bankstown RSL in his 2005 Silver Jubilee address.

Sydney West Joint Regional Planning Panel (DA-1207/2015), Commercial Real Estate (Sue Williams, 2019) and NSW War Memorials Register (Bankstown RSL WWI Honor Roll)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1928
1955
2005
2017
2019
2019
2019
2019
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Auditorium at Bankstown RSL, a vast ballroom stretches toward a darkened stage at the far wall.
Auditorium
Squash Court at Bankstown RSL, the hardwood floor has buckled and warped, planks lifting away from the subfloor in long.
Squash Court
Stage Lights at Bankstown RSL, a massive stage canopy hangs tilted above a bare auditorium floor, its red underside still.
Stage Lights
Pool at Bankstown RSL, an indoor swimming pool sits empty.
Pool
Nightclub at Bankstown RSL, a wide ballroom opens onto a raised stage at centre frame.
Nightclub
Spotlights at Bankstown RSL, a stage spotlight on a tripod stands in a small backstage room lined with dark timber veneer.
Spotlights
Auditorium Corridor at Bankstown RSL, a long corridor stretches deep into the building, narrowing to a vanishing point lit.
Auditorium Corridor
Foyer Art at Bankstown RSL, five framed artworks line the foyer wall, mounted on blue timber panelling punctuated.
Foyer Art
Nightclub Bar at Bankstown RSL, a long bar counter runs the width of the room, its stone-clad face pitted and uneven.
Nightclub Bar
Womens Bathrooms at Bankstown RSL, pink and mauve tiles line the walls of the women's bathrooms.
Womens Bathrooms
Sauna at Bankstown RSL, cedar-lined walls darken with moisture stains where the grain has swollen and split.
Sauna
Powder Room at Bankstown RSL, a long vinyl banquette lines the wall beneath a wide mirror.
Powder Room
Auditorium Windows at Bankstown RSL, a wide auditorium floor stretches toward a bank of tall windows.
Auditorium Windows
Buffet at Bankstown RSL, a stainless steel servery counter sits empty at the centre of the room.
Buffet
Showers at Bankstown RSL, olive-green ceramic tiles line the walls of a disused sauna and shower area.
Showers
Foyer Bar at Bankstown RSL, red and navy polka-dot carpet stretches wall to wall across the foyer bar.
Foyer Bar
Bistro Pylons at Bankstown RSL, red columns run floor to ceiling through a wide, empty function room.
Bistro Pylons
Self Serve at Bankstown RSL, a curved stainless steel bain-marie sits empty behind glass sneeze guards.
Self Serve
Foyer Stairs Elevator at Bankstown RSL, a deep red ceiling hangs low over polished concrete.
Foyer Stairs Elevator
Nightclub Entrance at Bankstown RSL, a chequerboard dance floor stretches across the room, its surface slick under a single.
Nightclub Entrance
Bistro at Bankstown RSL, red steel columns divide the room at regular intervals, holding a low ceiling painted the same.
Bistro
Chinese Restaurant at Bankstown RSL, a vast empty function room stretches wall to wall under a low drop ceiling.
Chinese Restaurant
Auditorium Angled at Bankstown RSL, a raised stage sits at the far end of a vast function hall inside the Bankstown RSL.
Auditorium Angled
Auditorium Hall at Bankstown RSL, a corridor stretches forward through open double doors.
Auditorium Hall
Chinese Restaurant Bar at Bankstown RSL, patterned carpet stretches across a vast function room floor.
Chinese Restaurant Bar
RSL Entrance at Bankstown RSL, a concrete column stands centre-frame, splitting the foyer into two grey corridors.
RSL Entrance
Glass Brick Wall at Bankstown RSL, a large function room stripped of furniture.
Glass Brick Wall
Change Rooms at Bankstown RSL, a long corridor stretches toward a distant source of natural light.
Change Rooms
Gym at Bankstown RSL, wood-panelled walls line a low-ceilinged basement room.
Gym
Bistro Bain Marie at Bankstown RSL, a narrow corridor runs between glass-fronted display cases, both emptied of food.
Bistro Bain Marie
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Paper

Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm. Metallic Gloss 260 gsm for acrylic-mounted prints.

Sizes

Five sizes, XS to XL, from $100. Open editions in XS and S, limited editions in M, L and XL.

Print tiers →

Production

Made to order in 5 to 10 business days.

06 PRESS

In the press

See press coverage

This series has been covered by external publications. The full archive lives on the press page.