Bathroom

A bathroom at Callan Park has a single green-painted swing door standing open against white-tiled walls. The door is heavy, designed to be opened with a hip rather than pulled with a hand. Three cubicle partitions of polished terrazzo and pale green board divide the inner space. The cubicles have no doors. Floor tiles are small white hexagons in a grid. A single high window above the cubicles lets in flat daylight from the south. Brass plumbing fixtures, mostly tarnished, are still in place. The cubicle partitions are darker on the side facing the door, where light has fallen on them less.

Hospital bathrooms of the Callan Park era were designed to be supervised. Cubicles without doors meant nursing staff could see what was happening inside without needing to interrupt; swing doors meant the bathroom could be entered without setting down a tray or a basin of water. The terrazzo partitions were durable, easy to clean, and resistant to graffiti or damage. The bathroom in this photograph is an example of that approach in practice. After the hospital closed in 2008, the door swung open and stayed that way. The room is otherwise unchanged from operating-day conditions.