Mezzanine

The mezzanine level of the Sundell Holden workshop and service centre in Chatswood hangs above what were once busy service bays, its structural columns streaked with rust and its surfaces reduced to layers of peeling paint. Dust hangs in the air, catching what little light reaches the interior through broken windows. The floor is bare. Nothing of the working building remains except its bones. Sundell Motors Pty Ltd was registered with ASIC on 5 January 1967, assigned Holden dealer code 610 for its Chatswood operation. The Smith Street address served as the mechanical and service arm of a multi-branch network on Sydney's North Shore, distinct from the Pacific Highway showroom that was cleared in 1987 for the construction of the Zenith Centre. By 2015, when this photograph was made, the workshop was already vacant and accumulating layers of street art across its walls. The wider story that closed Sundell's doors was a corporate one. General Motors announced the withdrawal of the Holden brand from Australia on 17 February 2020, leaving 185 dealers across the country to negotiate exit packages under considerable time pressure. The ACCC intervened on 22 May 2020, finding that dealers were being pushed to accept terms by an unreasonably short deadline. A Senate committee inquiry, referred in February 2020 and reported in March 2021, found a clear imbalance in bargaining power between Holden and its dealer network. At least 120 of those 185 dealers accepted compensation packages by 30 June 2020. The Holden brand ceased trading in Australia on 31 December 2020. The Smith Street building did not survive long after. Willoughby City Council approved the redevelopment DA in March 2021. Demolition followed, and Woolworths Chatswood East opened on the site on 26 October 2022. This photograph is what remains of the workshop in the years between those two events.