Bathrooms at Waterfall Sanatorium, a brown vinyl armchair sits centre-frame on a floor thick with plaster dust and debris.

01 Waterfall SanatoriumWaterfall2018

ISO 1001/8f/8.014mm

Series · 54 prints

Waterfall Sanatorium

Photographed 2018
Frames 54
Camera NIKON D850
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Garrawarra Centre for the Aged operates on site
Years 1909 to 1958
Specs 370 beds in 1914 · 788 patients in 1919 (largest sanatorium in NSW) · Approximately 2,000 graves in site cemetery
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

The first patients arrived at the Hospital for Consumptives, Waterfall on 14 April 1909, with initial provision for 180 men. A women's wing opened in May 1912 for 120; by 1919 it had become the largest sanatorium in New South Wales, holding 788 patients. The site sat at about 1,000 feet (305 m), 26 miles (42 km) south of Sydney, on the medical theory that tuberculosis needed 'high and rarefied atmosphere in the country away from the grime and pollution of cities'.

Patients in the active phase of tuberculosis lived in fibro chalets, each about the size of a garden shed. Larger ward buildings held the advanced and chronic cases. By 1914 the site carried 370 beds across the chalets and wards combined.

Sanatorium treatment was the dominant model for tuberculosis care in Australia from the late 19th century, anchored on fresh air, elevation, rest and isolation. Mid-century antibiotics and thoracic surgery transformed treatment, making the isolation regime unnecessary. Waterfall Sanatorium closed in 1958, joining a wider wind-down of sanatoria across New South Wales.

The site became Garrawarra Hospital from 1958, and is now the Garrawarra Centre for the Aged. The cemetery within the grounds holds approximately 2,000 graves, controlled by Wollongong Council. Some Waterfall-era buildings remain on the working aged-care site.

South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (Garrawarra history), NSW State Archives (AGY-1995 Waterfall Sanatorium) and Find and Connect (Waterfall Sanatorium)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1909
1912
1914
1919
1958
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed and numbered, printed from the original RAW file. Open editions in the two smallest sizes; limited editions of 100, 50 and 25 in the three larger, never reissued once they sell through.

Bathrooms at Waterfall Sanatorium, a brown vinyl armchair sits centre-frame on a floor thick with plaster dust and debris.
Bathrooms
Looking Out at Waterfall Sanatorium, broken windows viewing out towards the overgrown grounds of Waterfall Sanatorium.
Looking Out
Hanging Garden at Waterfall Sanatorium, a fern growing in brickwork between two bathroom doors.
Hanging Garden
Washroom at Waterfall Sanatorium, a narrow brick corridor opens toward a bank of timber-framed windows.
Washroom
Ward Hall at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor stretches toward a single doorway where daylight enters.
Ward Hall
Three Windows at Waterfall Sanatorium, three timber-framed windows sit evenly spaced across a rendered wall.
Three Windows
A derelict doorway at Waterfall Sanatorium frames an overgrown path. Sunlight pushes through dense foliage, illuminating peeling paint and crumbling plaster.
The Way Out
The Side Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, a narrow brick corridor leads toward a wall of steel-framed windows.
The Side Room
The Shed at Waterfall Sanatorium, a cream brick room with a corrugated iron ceiling.
The Shed
The Long Walk at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered verandah runs deep into the building, narrowing to a vanishing point.
The Long Walk
The Fireplace at Waterfall Sanatorium, a brick fireplace sits against the far wall, its arched opening now stuffed.
The Fireplace
Switchback at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long corridor stretches deep into the building, flanked by brown brick walls thick.
Switchback
Floor-to-ceiling timber shelving stands empty in a room within a ward building at Waterfall Sanatorium, its compartments dusty and the concrete floor below marked with old stains.
Storage Shelves
Squares In Squares at Waterfall Sanatorium, timber posts frame a sequence of open rooms, each threshold leading deeper.
Squares In Squares
Sprawl at Waterfall Sanatorium, sunlight falls through a long bank of windows onto a debris-covered floor.
Sprawl
Side Hall at Waterfall Sanatorium, a narrow enclosed corridor runs between a brick wall and a bank of steel-framed windows.
Side Hall
Side Chair at Waterfall Sanatorium, a floral armchair sits alone at the centre of a large hall.
Side Chair
Ripples at Waterfall Sanatorium, sunlight cuts through a row of tall windows and throws long parallel shadows.
Ripples
Rainforest Escape at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered verandah runs along the brick facade of a ward building.
Rainforest Escape
Peeking Through The Blinds at Waterfall Sanatorium, pale green walls hold three windows.
Peeking Through The Blinds
Overgrown at Waterfall Sanatorium, ferns and dried grass push through cracks in the concrete floor.
Overgrown
An electronic organ with exposed pedals sits abandoned in a room at Waterfall Sanatorium. Broken furniture, scattered debris, and graffiti-marked walls surround it. Fluorescent tubes hang from the ceiling.
Organ
Nothing Left at Waterfall Sanatorium, white ceramic tiles line the left wall, half of them still intact.
Nothing Left
Marbled Lino at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long corridor runs between a brick interior wall and a row of louvred windows.
Marbled Lino
Looking Down The Ward at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long open room stretches back toward a partitioned doorway.
Looking Down The Ward
Lone Chair at Waterfall Sanatorium, a floral armchair sits alone at the centre of a large hall.
Lone Chair
Laundry at Waterfall Sanatorium, a blue vinyl chair sits beneath a window in a narrow room.
Laundry
Indoor Plants at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered walkway runs along the brick facade of a ward building.
Indoor Plants
Glasshouse at Waterfall Sanatorium, frosted glass panels fill the walls from dado rail to ceiling, framed in dark timber.
Glasshouse
Flaky at Waterfall Sanatorium, paint curls away from every surface in thick, brittle sheets.
Flaky
Fibro Annex at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered walkway runs the length of a fibro and brick annex building.
Fibro Annex
Fallen Through at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor runs between partitioned rooms, their maroon-trimmed frames holding.
Fallen Through
Every Which Way at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor runs deep into the building, its pink-painted walls faded to a chalky.
Every Which Way
Empty Ward at Waterfall Sanatorium, a large rectangular ward stripped bare.
Empty Ward
Empty Arches at Waterfall Sanatorium, steel trusses span the pitched ceiling of a long rectangular hall.
Empty Arches
Daylight at Waterfall Sanatorium, a wide room stripped bare.
Daylight
Curtains at Waterfall Sanatorium, floral curtains still hang from their rails across two louvre windows.
Curtains
Communal Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, a wide communal room stripped bare.
Communal Room
Colour Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, sunlight cuts through a pair of tall windows and falls across a bare concrete floor.
Colour Room
Clinic Chair at Waterfall Sanatorium, a single padded chair sits off-centre on a brick-paved floor, angled toward empty.
Clinic Chair
Caleb Was Here at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor runs deep into the ward.
Caleb Was Here
Brick Annex at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered verandah runs along the brick annex, its pale green timber ceiling still.
Brick Annex
Breaking Down The Doors at Waterfall Sanatorium, a timber door lies flat on the floorboards, its glass panel still intact.
Breaking Down The Doors
The Boiler House at Waterfall Sanatorium. Its brick walls enclose the rusting boiler, its circular blower housing and cast-iron access door still intact. The sanatorium treated tuberculosis patients from 1909 until 1958.
Boiler House
Annex at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long enclosed corridor runs between a brick ward building and a wall of timber-framed.
Annex
A concrete walkway extends from Waterfall Sanatorium. Sunlight filters through the decaying structure.
Exit Walkway
Duality at Waterfall Sanatorium, an empty room within one of the wards of Waterfall Sanatorium.
Duality
Loose papers, overturned chairs and spilled desk drawers cover the floor of the document room at Waterfall Sanatorium.
The Document Room
Arches at Waterfall Sanatorium, a large empty room in Waterfall Sanatorium.
Arches
Pump Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, a dimly lit pump room.
Pump Room
Fallen at Waterfall Sanatorium, dead leaves surrounding a chair in a small utility room.
Fallen
Utility at Waterfall Sanatorium, a caged storage area leading to a roller door exit.
Utility
Encroach at Waterfall Sanatorium, vegetation slowly making its way from the outside to the interior of the building.
Encroach
Drawing Board at Waterfall Sanatorium, a small decaying room within Waterfall Sanatorium.
Drawing Board
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.

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