Beneath Pump House

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 21mm · f/8.0 · 2.5s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A corridor running beneath the Pump House, brick walls crumbling at the edges. Pipes cling to the ceiling above the passageway. The pump systems here moved circulating water from White Bay through the condensers and back to the harbour throughout the station's operational life.

Edition

Open edition

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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: Beneath Pump House
Series: White Bay Power Station
Catalogue: WBP-011
Process: Giclée
Captured: 13 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 2.5s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 21 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Rozelle, 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

Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The level beneath the pump house at White Bay Power Station is a low concrete-floored bay holding the suction-side pipework that drew harbour water from the intake into the cooling-water circulation pumps above. The bay walls are concrete, stained with the discolouration of decades of seawater intrusion. The pipework is heavy steel, painted in the standard pale industrial green of the plant, the paint flaking in patches at the bends and fittings. A small access ladder rises from the bay floor to the pump-house floor above. The light here is dim, coming through a small grating opening at the upper level.

Cooling water at White Bay was drawn from the harbour through the intake at the lake-edge, pulled into the pump-house suction line by the pumps above, pushed through the condensers below the turbine hall, and discharged back into the bay at the other end of the loop. The system handled large volumes per minute continuously through every operating shift. The pumping plant came out during the 1990s decontamination; the suction pipework in this photograph remained because it was below the floor and integrated with the structure. The bay has stayed mostly as it was on the last working day.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A brick-lined corridor runs beneath the Pump House, narrowing into darkness. Exposed concrete beams span the low ceiling, black with moisture damage. Steel pipes follow the length of the passage, their surfaces thick with corrosion. The floor is bare concrete, scattered with fallen plaster and debris. Light enters from an opening on the right, catching the pale render of the far wall. A strip of orange hazard tape lies flat on the ground. The air looks damp and cold.

Brett Patman

The series

White Bay Power Station

2015–2018 · 124 photographs

Bricklayers laid 3.7 million bricks at White Bay across three and a quarter years of Phase 1 construction, on Wanngal Country at the western edge of Rozelle. The New South Wales Government Railways ran the build through its own Construction Department. By 3 July 1913, boilers and alternators were running before the buildings that housed them were complete.

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.