Building 137

Building 137 stands within the northern precinct of the former Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve at Homebush, one of roughly 100 structures that survived the redevelopment of the site's southern two-thirds into the suburb of Newington following the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The building is Federation face brick construction, the same material and era that defines the original 1897 establishment at the site's core. By 2019, its window openings had lost their glazing entirely, leaving the interior exposed to Sydney's seasons. The depot was established by NSW Military Forces in 1897, with construction completed in 1898 across four contracts totalling £17,793. Management transferred from Commonwealth Military Forces to the Royal Australian Navy on 22 July 1921, a shift that enabled the relocation of high explosive ammunition from Spectacle Island upriver. Through subsequent decades, the Navy expanded the precinct considerably: a major construction programme ran from 1925 to 1926, wartime expansion added facilities through the early 1940s, and at its greatest extent in 1950 the site covered approximately 259 hectares. The depot's final ammunition operation was conducted over the wharf on 14 December 1999. The Royal Australian Navy vacated the site the same month, ending 102 years of continuous military use. Ownership passed to the NSW State Government in January 2000. The northern precinct, including Building 137, was retained intact. A stabilisation and restoration programme in 2001 addressed 100 buildings, 6.7 kilometres of narrow-gauge railway, and 7 battery-powered locomotives. The site was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 14 January 2011 under listing number 01850. What the 2019 photograph records is a building that outlasted its purpose by two decades, the brick holding its form while the fitted elements gave way. The Newington Armory series documents this precinct at that interval.