Malthouse Three

Malthouse Three sits across Nattai Creek from the rest of the Mittagong Maltings complex, separated from Malthouses One and Two by the waterway and connected to them by a light rail line and pedestrian bridge. Inside, a concrete stairwell spirals downward through the building. The walls are covered in peeling paint, lifting away in large curling sheets from the rendered surface beneath. High windows, their glass clouded with grime, admit a diffuse and particulate light that makes the dust motes visible in the still air. There is no machinery here, no equipment left behind. The space is stripped to its bones: concrete, render, and the slow work of decades without maintenance. Malthouse Three was erected in 1916, the last of the three production buildings that made up the Mittagong Maltings. The original Malthouse One had been built by Stuart Brothers of Sydney between 1898 and 1899 for the Malting Company of New South Wales. Tooth and Co acquired the operation in 1905 and added Malthouse Two in 1906 and 1907, followed by Malthouse Three a decade later. By 1916, the entire works employed an average of 27 men working up to four shifts daily, using the traditional floor malting process that the site maintained throughout its 81 years of operation. Malthouse Three proved the most resilient of the three buildings. The 1942 fire that the Sydney Morning Herald described as the biggest in Mittagong's history tore through Malthouses One and Two. A 1969 fire permanently closed Malthouse One and saw its internal structures removed entirely. Malthouse Three continued producing through both events. Production across the whole site finally ended in 1980 when Tooth and Co cited financial difficulties and the availability of subcontracted malting services. This photograph was made in 2014, inside a stairwell that had not seen a working maltster for more than 30 years. Heritage NSW has assessed the Maltings as the only remaining traditional maltings manufacturing facility in Australia.