Hallway

A hallway in the administration block at Wangi Power Station runs between the office wing and the technical-staff section, fitted with the standard 1950s institutional treatment: vinyl tile flooring laid in a small geometric pattern, painted plasterboard walls in a neutral cream, dropped acoustic-tile ceiling, fluorescent strip lighting overhead. A row of office doors runs along both sides, each one carrying a small enamel plate with a name or a role title. Most plates are still in place. A noticeboard at one end of the hallway holds the residue of working pinned-up notices: shift rosters, safety bulletins, social-club announcements. The light along the hallway is filtered through a single window at the end of the run.

Administration hallways in postwar Australian industrial buildings followed a consistent template, with Wangi's no different. The hallway in this photograph carried the daily foot traffic of the plant's clerical and engineering staff for almost three decades, from the 1958 opening to the 1986 closure of B Station. After the plant closed, the administration block was wound down. The noticeboard residue, the door plates, and the hallway fittings have stayed largely as they were on the last working day.