Boiler House

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/8.0 · 3s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The Boiler House at Waterfall Sanatorium. Its brick walls enclose the rusting boiler, its circular blower housing and cast-iron access door still intact. The sanatorium treated tuberculosis patients from 1909 until 1958.

Edition

Open edition

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

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

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In situ

Boiler House at Waterfall Sanatorium, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Boiler House at Waterfall Sanatorium, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Boiler House at Waterfall Sanatorium, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Boiler House
Series: Waterfall Sanatorium
Catalogue: WSA-004
Process: Giclée
Captured: 24 June 2018
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 3s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 14 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The boiler house at Waterfall Sanatorium is a utility building on the site. The building is brick, with a tiled roof and a tall metal flue rising from one side. Inside, the rusting boiler stands within the brick walls, its circular blower housing and cast-iron access door still intact. The floor is concrete, blackened from years of coal dust.

Tuberculosis sanatoria of the 1909 generation depended on a serious utility infrastructure: hot water for laundering bedding daily, steam for sterilising medical instruments, and central heating for the few rooms that needed it. After the wards closed, the boiler was shut down. The fittings have not been removed, partly because the building is heritage-listed and partly because the cast iron weighs more than it would cost to scrap. The boiler in this photograph is still where it was last fired.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A heavy industrial boiler sits against the far wall, its casing oxidised to a deep burnt orange. Steel crossbracing and pipework climb the right side. To the left, a metal access platform reaches a small elevated doorway set into pale brick. A 44-gallon drum stands on the concrete floor. Timber roof trusses are exposed overhead, daylight pushing through gaps where sheeting has failed. The concrete is stained, layered with grit and leaf litter. Graffiti marks the rusted steel.

Brett Patman

The series

Waterfall Sanatorium

2016–2018 · 54 photographs

The first patients arrived at the Hospital for Consumptives, Waterfall on 14 April 1909, with initial provision for 180 men. A women's wing opened in May 1912 for 120; by 1919 it had become the largest sanatorium in New South Wales, holding 788 patients. The site sat at about 1,000 feet (305 m), 26 miles (42 km) south of Sydney, on the medical theory that tuberculosis needed 'high and rarefied atmosphere in the country away from the grime and pollution of cities'.

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.