AB Launder Yard

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Provenance

Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/8.0 · 0.6s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

An exterior view of the U-shaped brick frontage of the Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories, with 4 rust-stained steel chimneys rising above a wide concrete forecourt. Sheeting covers the upper windows of 'A' factory, fitted after the Boxing Day 2003 conveyor fire. Yellow-supported conveyor structures run along the left of the complex.

Edition

Open edition

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

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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 10 to 20 business days (framed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: AB Launder Yard
Series: Morwell Power Station
Catalogue: MPS-001
Process: Giclée
Captured: 29 March 2017
Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 0.6s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 14 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Morwell, Victoria, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Morwell, Victoria, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

Four rust-stained steel chimneys rise above the U-shaped brick complex of the Morwell Power Station and Briquette Factories, 2 of them noticeably taller than the others. They frame a wide concrete forecourt under a heavy, overcast sky. Overhead conveyor structures with yellow supports run along the left side of the complex. Sheeting covers the upper-level windows on 'A' factory, fitted after an explosion and fire on Boxing Day 2003 blew out the old glazing in the conveyor that ran between 'A' and 'B' factory. The brickwork is weathered, the steel discoloured, and the forecourt empty.

The complex carried a minimum of 4 steel chimneys, supplied under the Mitchell Engineering Group Ltd. of London contract that also covered the boiler plant, ash handling and building. The Boxing Day 2003 fire that scarred this elevation destroyed the coal cross-over conveyor feeding the B, C and D briquette plants, after which only A plant continued and the complex ran at a fraction of its intended capacity. The chimneys were progressively demolished in the program that ran from November 2018 to June 2020. Brett photographed the AB launder yard frontage on 29 March 2017, in the closed complex before the demolition program began.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Two brick chimneys rise from the centre of the frame, flanked by the symmetrical bulk of the station's turbine halls. Cream-rendered walls stretch five storeys high, their tall windows dark and uniform. The launder yard between them is bare concrete, cracked and oil-stained, open to a low grey sky. Weeds push through at the margins. Yellow steel gantries and conveyor frameworks line the base of the buildings. Nothing moves.

Brett Patman

The series

Morwell Power Station

1949-2014 · 79 photographs

The State Electricity Commission of Victoria built Morwell as the centrepiece of its postwar plan to sever Victoria's reliance on black coal from New South Wales. Construction ran from 1949 to 1959; electricity production commenced in December 1958 and the first commercial briquettes followed in December 1959. With the demolition of Old Yallourn between 1995 and 1999, Morwell became the earliest surviving large-scale Victorian state-grid power station, registered on the Victorian Heritage Register as H2377 on 1 March 2018.

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.