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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 limited editions, printed from the original RAW file. Editions run from 100 down to 25 and are not 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.

Looking Out at Waterfall Sanatorium, broken windows viewing out towards the overgrown grounds of Waterfall Sanatorium.

Hanging Garden at Waterfall Sanatorium, a fern growing in brickwork between two bathroom doors.

Washroom at Waterfall Sanatorium, a narrow brick corridor opens toward a bank of timber-framed windows.

Ward Hall at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor stretches toward a single doorway where daylight enters.

Three Windows at Waterfall Sanatorium, three timber-framed windows sit evenly spaced across a rendered wall.

The Way Out at Waterfall Sanatorium, sunlight falls in pale strips across a bare concrete floor.

The Side Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, a narrow brick corridor leads toward a wall of steel-framed windows.

The Shed at Waterfall Sanatorium, a cream brick room with a corrugated iron ceiling.

The Long Walk at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered verandah runs deep into the building, narrowing to a vanishing point.

The Fireplace at Waterfall Sanatorium, a brick fireplace sits against the far wall, its arched opening now stuffed.

Switchback at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long corridor stretches deep into the building, flanked by brown brick walls thick.

Storage Shelves at Waterfall Sanatorium, a timber shelving unit covers the back wall, its grid of open compartments.

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.

Side Hall at Waterfall Sanatorium, a narrow enclosed corridor runs between a brick wall and a bank of steel-framed windows.

Side Chair at Waterfall Sanatorium, a floral armchair sits alone at the centre of a large hall.

Ripples at Waterfall Sanatorium, sunlight cuts through a row of tall windows and throws long parallel shadows.

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.

Organ at Waterfall Sanatorium, a wooden organ sits against the far wall, its keys and stops exposed.

Nothing Left at Waterfall Sanatorium, white ceramic tiles line the left wall, half of them still intact.

Marbled Lino at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long corridor runs between a brick interior wall and a row of louvred windows.

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.

Laundry at Waterfall Sanatorium, a blue vinyl chair sits beneath a window in a narrow room.

Indoor Plants at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered walkway runs along the brick facade of a ward building.

Glasshouse at Waterfall Sanatorium, frosted glass panels fill the walls from dado rail to ceiling, framed in dark timber.

Flaky at Waterfall Sanatorium, paint curls away from every surface in thick, brittle sheets.

Fibro Annex at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered walkway runs the length of a fibro and brick annex building.

Fallen Through at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor runs between partitioned rooms, their maroon-trimmed frames holding.

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 Arches at Waterfall Sanatorium, steel trusses span the pitched ceiling of a long rectangular hall.

Daylight at Waterfall Sanatorium, a wide room stripped bare.

Curtains at Waterfall Sanatorium, floral curtains still hang from their rails across two louvre windows.

Communal Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, a wide communal room stripped bare.

Colour Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, sunlight cuts through a pair of tall windows and falls across a bare concrete floor.

Clinic Chair at Waterfall Sanatorium, a single padded chair sits off-centre on a brick-paved floor, angled toward empty.

Caleb Was Here at Waterfall Sanatorium, a corridor runs deep into the ward.

Brick Annex at Waterfall Sanatorium, a covered verandah runs along the brick annex, its pale green timber ceiling still.

Breaking Down The Doors at Waterfall Sanatorium, a timber door lies flat on the floorboards, its glass panel still intact.

Breaking Down The Doors

Boiler House at Waterfall Sanatorium, a heavy industrial boiler sits against the far wall, its casing oxidised to a deep.

Annex at Waterfall Sanatorium, a long enclosed corridor runs between a brick ward building and a wall of timber-framed.

Exit Walkway at Waterfall Sanatorium, an external corridor tinged green closest to the window.

Duality at Waterfall Sanatorium, an empty room within one of the wards of Waterfall Sanatorium.

The Document Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, patient documents, strewn across a heavily graffitied room with upturned.

The Document Room

Arches at Waterfall Sanatorium, a large empty room in Waterfall Sanatorium.

Pump Room at Waterfall Sanatorium, a dimly lit pump room.

Fallen at Waterfall Sanatorium, dead leaves surrounding a chair in a small utility room.

Utility at Waterfall Sanatorium, a caged storage area leading to a roller door exit.

Encroach at Waterfall Sanatorium, vegetation slowly making its way from the outside to the interior of the building.

Drawing Board at Waterfall Sanatorium, a small decaying room within Waterfall Sanatorium.

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

Holding a solo exhibition in one of the spaces I've photographed would also be a dream, particularly at a site with a strong community connection - so the images can be enjoyed by the people who made it matter.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

I'm not trying to make out like I'm some kind of mysterious urbex badass. Lost Collective isn't about me. It's about the places I shoot and even more about the connection that the people have to the sites.

Broadsheet

Brett Patman·2016

lostcollective.com

On the LC archive.

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.