Control Room at White Bay Power Station, a curved control console wraps across the room in a wide arc.

01 White Bay Power StationRozelle2015 - 2017

ISO 1001/8f/9.014mm

Series · 124 prints

White Bay Power Station

Photographed 2015 - 2017
Frames 124
Camera NIKON D810 · NIKON D7000
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Arts and cultural venue; reopened to public 2024 (Biennale of Sydney)
Years 1917 to 1983
Specs 186 MW peak capacity (rarely attained) · 38,000 m² site · Three stations: A (1917), B (1928), C (1948)
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Bricklayers laid 3.7 million bricks at White Bay across three and a quarter years of Phase 1 construction, on Wanngal Country at the western edge of Rozelle. The New South Wales Government Railways ran the build through its own Construction Department. By 3 July 1913, boilers and alternators were running before the buildings that housed them were complete.

The Turbine Hall and 1912-1927 Switch House are Arts and Crafts adapted to industrial architecture, in brick and reinforced concrete on a 38,000 square metre site. Four construction phases completed in 1917, 1928, 1953 and 1958. The 1950s Third Boiler House across Phases 3 and 4 is Modernist, set in deliberate contrast to the earlier work.

White Bay supplied Sydney's tram and suburban rail network, and after 1958 fed the wider NSW grid. At its 1923 peak the tram network ran across 291 kilometres of street trackage; at its 1945 peak it carried 405 million passenger journeys, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and second-largest in the British Empire after London. The station was rated at 186 MW, rarely attained, and ceased generation on Christmas Eve 1983.

The NSW State Heritage Register listed White Bay on 2 April 1999. The 24th Biennale of Sydney opened the building to the public from 9 March to 10 June 2024 and drew 172,000 visitors, the most-attended non-museum site in the history of the Biennale. White Bay sits at the centre of the Bays West precinct, planned for up to 8,500 homes and framed by Placemaking NSW as the first example of Country-led regeneration at this scale in Australia.

NSW State Heritage Register (Heritage NSW), White Bay Power Station CMP Vol 1 and Engineering Heritage Australia EHRP-2025 nomination

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1912
1917
1923
1928
1953
1958
1961
1983
1989
1999
2024
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.

Lockers at White Bay Power Station, steel lockers line a concrete wall, doors hanging open.
Lockers
Lunch Room at White Bay Power Station, a timber church pew sits against a wall of broken windows in a narrow brick corridor.
Lunch Room
Mystery Machine at White Bay Power Station, a heavy steel skip sits on iron wheels in the centre of the turbine hall floor.
Mystery Machine
Offices at White Bay Power Station, frosted glass panels line the partition wall, their surface clouded with grime.
Offices
Plinth at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast iron plinth sits on a stepped concrete base inside the pump house at White.
Plinth
Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.
Pump
Rail Corridor Exit at White Bay Power Station, light enters through a high industrial opening on the left wall, falling.
Rail Corridor Exit
Railway Corridor at White Bay Power Station, rail lines run flush with the concrete floor beneath a heavy steel gantry.
Railway Corridor
Receptionists Desk at White Bay Power Station, a curved timber reception desk sits on a floor of white hexagonal mosaic.
Receptionists Desk
Roller Door at White Bay Power Station, a steel roller door fills the frame, sealed shut between concrete walls.
Roller Door
Sink at White Bay Power Station, a stainless steel sink sits square in the frame, its draining boards thick with grey dust.
Sink
Sluice Valve Control at White Bay Power Station, a rusted control panel labelled "No.
Sluice Valve Control
South West Transformer Yard at White Bay Power Station, rail lines run between two industrial buildings, half-buried.
South West Transformer Yard
Steam Compressor at White Bay Power Station, a cast-iron steam pump sits bolted to its concrete plinth on the turbine hall.
Steam Compressor
Storage Room at White Bay Power Station, a rounded-top refrigerator stands against bare brick, its chrome badge scratched.
Storage Room
Switch House Reactors at White Bay Power Station, timber-framed glass doors encase five reactors in the White Bay Power.
Switch House Reactors
Switch House Store Room at White Bay Power Station, steel storage racks run the length of the left wall, most shelves.
Switch House Store Room
Testing Room at White Bay Power Station, white glazed tiles line the walls to shoulder height.
Testing Room
Transformer Alley at White Bay Power Station, the narrow corridor between the Turbine Hall and Switch House at White Bay.
Transformer Alley
Turbine Front End at White Bay Power Station, a Parsons steam turbine sits at floor level inside the turbine hall at White.
Turbine Front End
Turbine Hall Alarms at White Bay Power Station, a white-painted brick column rises between tall industrial windows.
Turbine Hall Alarms
Turbine Hall Annexes at White Bay Power Station, three concrete annexes project from the boiler house wall,.
Turbine Hall Annexes
Turbine Hall Basement North End at White Bay Power Station, white-painted brick rises two storeys to meet riveted steel.
Turbine Hall Basement North End
Turbine Hall Basement Northern End at White Bay Power Station, concrete plinths rise from the dirt floor at the northern.
Turbine Hall Basement Northern End
Turbine Hall Basement Storage at White Bay Power Station, a steel mezzanine walkway spans the rear wall, reached.
Turbine Hall Basement Storage
Turbine Hall Crib Room at White Bay Power Station, a fluorescent light fixture lies face-down on bare timber floorboards.
Turbine Hall Crib Room
Turbine Hall Equipment at White Bay Power Station, a soot blower control panel sits against the brick wall of White Bay's.
Turbine Hall Equipment
Turbine Hall Operator Level at White Bay Power Station, the Parsons turbine looms in a long row, its massive exhaust ducts.
Turbine Hall Operator Level
Turbine Hall Refuse at White Bay Power Station, a weathered timber man box stands open at White Bay Power Station.
Turbine Hall Refuse
Turbine Hall Storage Room at White Bay Power Station, light filters through the rusted steel door of White Bay Power Station.
Turbine Hall Storage Room
Turbine Hall Windows at White Bay Power Station, a steel indicator panel lines the left wall, its gauge windows dark.
Turbine Hall Windows
Workshop Facing South at White Bay Power Station, a narrow corridor between brick walls rises two storeys high.
Workshop Facing South
Workshop Storage at White Bay Power Station, once locked away behind steel framing and wire mesh, this storage area.
Workshop Storage
Workshop Storage Cage at White Bay Power Station, a steel staircase with chain-mesh backing rises from a narrow basement.
Workshop Storage Cage
Pump House Equipment and Panel at White Bay Power Station, the rusted panel still holds its cracked gauges, their needles.
Pump House Equipment and Panel
Generators And Knife Switches at White Bay Power Station, three generators sit bolted to concrete plinths, their cast-iron.
Generators And Knife Switches
Switch House Wall at White Bay Power Station, a narrow walkway runs alongside the White Bay Power Station Switch House.
Switch House Wall
Workshop Entrance at White Bay Power Station, a red brick partition sits inside a massive concrete void, its neat.
Workshop Entrance
Turbine Hall Corridor at White Bay Power Station, a narrow corridor runs between poured concrete and exposed brick beneath.
Turbine Hall Corridor
Valve Nest at White Bay Power Station, a row of cast-iron valve wheels lines the operator level of White Bay Power.
Valve Nest
Switch House Workbench at White Bay Power Station, grey-painted steel workbenches run the length of the back wall.
Switch House Workbench
Vent Fans at White Bay Power Station, two Sirocco centrifugal fans sit bolted to concrete plinths, their cast-iron housings.
Vent Fans
Condenser Plinths at White Bay Power Station, concrete plinths stand in two rows inside the basement of White Bay Power.
Condenser Plinths
Turbine Hall Facing South at White Bay Power Station, the turbine hall at White Bay Power Station runs deep.
Turbine Hall Facing South
Turbine Governor at White Bay Power Station, a Parsons steam turbine dominates the floor of the turbine hall.
Turbine Governor
Pump House Equipment at White Bay Power Station, a narrow service corridor runs between a row of heavy cast-iron pumps.
Pump House Equipment
Pump House at White Bay Power Station, a long corridor runs between painted brick walls inside White Bay Power Station's.
Pump House
Sulphite Tank at White Bay Power Station, the No.
Sulphite Tank
Battery Room at White Bay Power Station, a Westinghouse motor-generator set sits bolted to a concrete plinth in the centre.
Battery Room
Fire Extinguisher at White Bay Power Station, a red Quell fire extinguisher stands on a grime-covered brick floor.
Fire Extinguisher
Bar Billiards at White Bay Power Station, a coin-operated bar billiards table sits on worn timber floorboards, its green.
Bar Billiards
Turbine Hall Work Bench at White Bay Power Station, a heavy steel workbench runs the width of the back wall, bolted to brick.
Turbine Hall Work Bench
Coal Mill at White Bay Power Station, deep in the basement of the White Bay Power Station Boiler House, this heavy-duty.
Coal Mill
Coal Weigher at White Bay Power Station, beneath the towering coal bunkers of the White Bay Power Station Boiler House.
Coal Weigher
Boiler House Operator Level at White Bay Power Station, a towering expanse of rusted steel, staircases, and platforms.
Boiler House Operator Level
Boiler Blueprint at White Bay Power Station, a faded blueprint, discolored with time, detailing the entire Boiler House.
Boiler Blueprint
Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.
Ammeter Wall
Reactor Room at White Bay Power Station, reinforced concrete bays line both sides of a long corridor deep inside White Bay.
Reactor Room
Transformer Yard at White Bay Power Station, a narrow concrete corridor runs between the Switch House and the main station.
Transformer Yard
Control Room Wiring at White Bay Power Station, the rear of the White Bay Power Station Control Room panel reveals.
Control Room Wiring
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.

05 FIELD NOTE

From the field

Read all field notes
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

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