Collapsed Factory Interior

The roof of this manufacturing hall did not hold. At some point during the years the Francis Street site sat empty, fire worked through this section of the building and brought the structure down. Twisted metal sheeting still hangs from what remains of the frame above. Rusted cylindrical vessels and scorched debris cover the floor below. A single chair sits near the centre of the hall, close to a red object that broke the monotony of grey and rust. At the rear, a raised mezzanine and a row of tall windows remain largely intact, letting light into a space that no longer has much use for it. The factory was developed from 1952 by Davies Coop & Co. Ltd, a vertically integrated cotton company that spun in Adelaide, wove in Sydney, and established its dyeing and finishing operation here at West Footscray through a wholly owned subsidiary, Davies Coop (B.D.A.) Pty. Ltd. The subsidiary was set up to operate around the Bradford Dyers' Association's "Rigmel" shrink-control process, brought out under an exclusive Australian licence. By 1954 the company had purchased 40 acres at West Footscray and the new dye house, begun in 1952, was nearing completion. The manufacturing buildings from this period reflect a transitional phase in factory design: south-lit sawtooth roofs carried on trusses, a form noted in the Maribyrnong Heritage Overlay citation for the site. The complex later operated under the Bradmill name, becoming a major denim and workwear fabric manufacturer. Operations ceased around 2001 as tariff protection wound back and cheaper imports made the business unviable. By the time this photograph was made in 2011, the site had been empty for several years and fire had already done significant work to parts of the interior. The photograph is part of the Bradmill Denim series, shot during the window between the factory's closure and its eventual redevelopment as a mixed-use residential precinct. That window is now closed.