Basement Ramp

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 24mm · f/8.0 · 0.4s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A concrete vehicle ramp descends from ground level into the unlit basement of the derelict building. Dust motes are visible in diagonal shafts of natural light. The ramp surface is worn and dirt-covered. The lower level recedes into near-total darkness. No fittings or signage are visible in the frame.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

Limited edition
A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

$100.00 AUD

Colour

Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 5 to 10 business days (unframed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

See certificate sample →

Shipping Free shipping over $250. Ships worldwide, rates calculated at checkout.

Returns Damaged in transit? We replace it. Full policy →

Ships within 10 business days · signed & numbered

In situ

Basement Ramp at Balmain Leagues Club, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Basement Ramp at Balmain Leagues Club, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Basement Ramp at Balmain Leagues Club, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Basement Ramp
Series: Balmain Leagues Club
Catalogue: BLC-003
Process: Giclée
Captured: 16 October 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 0.4s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 24 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The concrete ramp in this photograph is one of the more functional remnants of the former Balmain Leagues Club at 138 to 152 Victoria Road, Rozelle. It drops from ground level into the building's basement, now dark and dust-covered, shafts of available light catching the particulate in the air above the worn surface. The two basement levels confirmed in the 2018 development application indicate the scale of what was below grade on this site, infrastructure built to serve a multi-level licensed venue on one of Sydney's busiest arterial roads. The building opened in 1957, purpose-built on the corner of Victoria Road and Darling Street as the social and financial centre for the Balmain Tigers and the working-class community of Rozelle that had produced the club since its founding in 1908. For more than five decades the venue housed a ballroom, main bar, gaming floor, and function rooms, the registered club model sustaining the Tigers through revenue that the football operation alone could not generate. The club won its eleventh and final premiership in 1969. By 1999, mounting debt contributed to the merger with Western Suburbs Magpies to form Wests Tigers. The club closed its doors on 28 March 2010 under a government notice to vacate, issued for a metro rail project that was ultimately never built on this site. The building sat on Victoria Road, visible to thousands of passing drivers daily, while three developers, two rejected development applications, a compulsory government acquisition that was subsequently reversed, and a voluntary administration played out over fifteen years. By 2015, when these photographs were made, copper wiring had been stripped throughout the building, windows were smashed, and interior deterioration was well advanced. A fire in 2022 destroyed the Victoria Road frontage. Emergency orders from Inner West Council required structural bracing and asbestos clearance. Demolition followed in 2024 to 2025. The ramp and everything below it is gone.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The concrete ramp at the former Balmain Leagues Club leads down into a basement that once served a multi-level building on the corner of Victoria Road and Darling Street, Rozelle. The club opened in 1957 as a purpose-built venue for players, supporters, and the surrounding community, sustaining the Balmain Tigers through gaming, bar, and function revenue for more than five decades. When it closed on 28 March 2010, the building entered a long deterioration. By 2015, copper wiring had been stripped, windows smashed, and the interior was advancing into serious disrepair.

Brett Patman

The series

Balmain Leagues Club

2015 · 20 photographs

Balmain Leagues Club opened in 1957 on the corner of Victoria Road and Darling Street in Rozelle, supporting the Balmain Tigers, one of the NSW Rugby League's original nine clubs. The Tigers' premiership tally was, until the mid-1990s, second only to St George and South Sydney. The Australian Rugby League listed the site as a place of historical significance during the code's 2008 centenary. The club closed on 28 March 2010 under a NSW Government order to vacate for what was then the Sydney Metro project. The metro alignment was later changed and the site was not used. The building stood empty on the corner of Victoria Road for over a decade through a series of failed redevelopment attempts. Demolition and rebuild as the Rozelle Village mixed-use development began in 2023, with a new Wests Ashfield Leagues Club to return to the site.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.