North Facade at Terminus Hotel, the north-facing façade of the Terminus Hotel, captured in the late afternoon light.

01 Terminus HotelPyrmont2016

ISO 1001sf/8.022mm

Series · 44 prints

Terminus Hotel

Photographed 2016
Frames 44
Camera NIKON D7000
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Restored 2018
Years 1917 to 1983
Specs Federation hotel, 1917 Tooth & Co. rebuild · 493.2 m² corner site · Licensed since 1841
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

The corner of Harris and John Streets, Pyrmont, has held a licensed pub almost continuously since 1841, under four names. Sydney's Harris Street electric tram opened in 1898 and terminated at the front door. The owners added a two-storey wing and renamed the pub Terminus around 1900.

The building visible today is the 1917 Federation-style rebuild by Tooth & Co., NSW's largest brewer. Commercial reporting describes the level of intact fabric as rare for a hotel of its period. The interior plan reads as a standard early-twentieth-century pub: Public Bar, Parlour, Ladies Parlour, upstairs accommodation, less the 1950s alteration when the Ladies Parlour was merged into the Public Bar.

The 1917 rebuild was forced by licensing law. NSW had cut hotel trading hours to 10am to 6pm, six days a week, and required hotels to provide accommodation to keep their licences. Tooth & Co. demolished the existing pub and put up the present building in compliance.

The pub closed in 1983 as Pyrmont's industrial workforce collapsed. The building stood empty for 33 years, held by Susan and Isaac Wakil and then by developer Auswin TWT, occupied intermittently by feral cats and squatters. It reopened as a working pub in 2018 after a two-year restoration.

Pyrmont History Group, City of Sydney Archives and Dictionary of Sydney (Pyrmont)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1841
1845
1853
1898
1900
1917
1983
2016
2018
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed limited editions, printed from the original RAW file. Editions run from 100 down to 25 and are not reissued once they sell through.

Downstairs Hallway at Terminus Hotel, this hallway once connected the daily workings of the Terminus Hotel, stretching.
Downstairs Hallway
North Facade at Terminus Hotel, the north-facing façade of the Terminus Hotel, captured in the late afternoon light.
North Facade
Bar Area at Terminus Hotel, the bar stands empty, its silence louder than the crowds that once filled the room.
Bar Area
Toilet at Terminus Hotel, a white ceramic pedestal toilet sits centred in a narrow tiled cubicle.
Toilet
Downstairs Light Switches at Terminus Hotel, a grid of Bakelite light switches remains mounted to the wall, each paired.
Downstairs Light Switches
Nature Always Finds A Way at Terminus Hotel, an overgrown corner of the rear courtyard at the Terminus Hotel.
Nature Always Finds A Way
Stageside Bar at Terminus Hotel, a view of the western side of the main bar inside the Terminus Hotel.
Stageside Bar
Cellar Entry at Terminus Hotel, original timber swing doors, weathered and worn, still mark the entry point.
Cellar Entry
Cellar at Terminus Hotel, three stainless steel beer kegs sit on a concrete floor.
Cellar
Bathroom at Terminus Hotel, dust clings to every surface, settling thick across the enamel of the hand basin.
Bathroom
Guest Room at Terminus Hotel, a single bed frame sits along the wall, its bare springs exposed, beside a worn armchair.
Guest Room
Staircase at Terminus Hotel, the original staircase of the Terminus Hotel, leading from the downstairs foyer.
Staircase
Toy Collection at Terminus Hotel, a dense patch of overgrowth tucked behind the rear wall of the Terminus Hotel,.
Toy Collection
Stairs Landing at Terminus Hotel, a timber dresser sits against the far wall of a landing inside the Terminus Hotel.
Stairs Landing
Side Access at Terminus Hotel, a narrow passage runs between a timber fence and the rendered side wall of the Terminus Hotel.
Side Access
Lead Paint at Terminus Hotel, green over blue over pink over plaster.
Lead Paint
Ladies Parlour at Terminus Hotel, a view from the edge of what was once the ladies’ parlour, looking through to the main.
Ladies Parlour
Harris Street at Terminus Hotel, a close view beneath the awning where Harris and John Streets meet, marking one of the key.
Harris Street
Hallway From Main Guest Rooms at Terminus Hotel, a corridor recedes through successive doorways, each frame narrower than.
Hallway From Main Guest Rooms
Green Feature Walls at Terminus Hotel, at first glance, it could be mistaken for a deliberate design choice, a vertical.
Green Feature Walls
Furnished Guest Room at Terminus Hotel, among the guest rooms of the Terminus Hotel, this one retained the most furniture.
Furnished Guest Room
Exposed Brickwork at Terminus Hotel, viewed from further down the corridor, the path leads toward the main bar, now.
Exposed Brickwork
Common Room at Terminus Hotel, a faded yellow wall covered floor to ceiling in graffiti and marker scrawl.
Common Room
Cold Storage at Terminus Hotel, light cuts across the floor in a quiet diagonal, illuminating years of dust and decay.
Cold Storage
Beer Garden Thoroughfare at Terminus Hotel, corrugated sheeting leans across the doorframe, held in place by a makeshift.
Beer Garden Thoroughfare
Beer Garden at Terminus Hotel, you could be forgiven for thinking this was taken mid-hike through bushland,.
Beer Garden
Bare Guest Room at Terminus Hotel, light seeps in through a boarded window, casting a dull glow across the floorboards.
Bare Guest Room
Bar Shelving at Terminus Hotel, a built-in timber cabinet sits behind the bar, its doors open.
Bar Shelving
Bar Keepers Office at Terminus Hotel, light spills through a tall window at the end of the hallway, catching on dust.
Bar Keepers Office
Balcony at Terminus Hotel, green ivy presses in from the edges, curling toward a balcony long left to the elements.
Balcony
Mens Bathroom at Terminus Hotel, a quiet view inside the men’s bathroom at the Terminus Hotel.
Mens Bathroom
Eastern Facade at Terminus Hotel, late sun breaks hard around the corner of the Terminus Hotel, throwing a starburst.
Eastern Facade
Corner Facade at Terminus Hotel, the northeast corner of the Terminus Hotel stands wrapped in ivy, its façade a patchwork.
Corner Facade
Bathroom Hall at Terminus Hotel, a narrow corridor leads toward a tiled bathroom at the far end.
Bathroom Hall
The World's Loneliest Chair at Terminus Hotel, a single red chair sits in the corner of an otherwise empty room of Terminus.
The World's Loneliest Chair
Wallpapered Guest Room at Terminus Hotel, a guest room of the Terminus Hotel with more personality than most, styled.
Wallpapered Guest Room
Stairwell at Terminus Hotel, looking down from the upper landing, the stairwell drops through tight right-angle turns.
Stairwell
Painted Exterior Advertisement at Terminus Hotel, a detail from the outer wall of the Terminus Hotel, where painted signage.
Painted Exterior Advertisement
Main Guest Room at Terminus Hotel, a wide view of the main guest room, once the most generously sized of those upstairs.
Main Guest Room
Kitchen at Terminus Hotel, the remains of the kitchen where meals were once prepared for the guests and patrons.
Kitchen
Guest Room Hallway at Terminus Hotel, the main hallway on the upper floor leads past the former guest rooms toward.
Guest Room Hallway
Bar at Terminus Hotel, the view runs the length of the original wooden bar, its surface carved smooth by time and use.
Bar
Bar Floor at Terminus Hotel, the main bar floor sits quietly beneath a grid of red-pressed metal, its surface cracked.
Bar Floor
Bar Entrance at Terminus Hotel, a worn step rises to meet the barroom threshold, framed by peeling green paint and chipped.
Bar Entrance
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

06 PRESS

In the press

Often I'd find myself looking at the machines and architecture and challenging myself to find one single object designed purely for aesthetics. Craftsmanship made way for efficiency in engineering long before I'd even left school.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

People talk about what it was like to work or stay in these places, who they knew, what they did, how great the Christmas parties were, that store man nobody liked, what all the different machines were, how they worked and what became of them.

Broadsheet

Brett Patman·2016

lostcollective.com

On the LC archive.

There's this sense of wonder you get when looking at abandoned buildings. You try to imagine what these spaces were like when they were filled with busy workers trying to meet production targets. And why did they close?

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

See press coverage →
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

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Articles when they're published. The history behind a place. The day of a shoot. The work between prints. No marketing, no schedule.

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