Condenser Plinths

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 21mm · f/8.0 · 5s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Massive concrete foundations in the turbine hall basement, mounting points still visible in the walls. The condensers they once supported collected spent steam from the turbines and returned it to water for the next cycle. The equipment was removed during the 1990s decontamination.

Edition

Open edition

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

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A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

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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: Condenser Plinths
Series: White Bay Power Station
Catalogue: WBP-036
Process: Giclée
Captured: 13 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 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: National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2016 Heritage Award, Multimedia

02 LOCATION

Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

A row of condenser plinths at White Bay Power Station sits in the turbine hall basement, the heavy concrete foundations that once carried the steam condensers below the turbines. Each plinth is a rectangular concrete block set into the basement floor with bolt patterns across the upper surface where the condenser shells were anchored. The condenser shells themselves have been removed from some plinths; others retain the shells in situ. The basement floor around the plinths is concrete, stained where decades of condensate dripped down past the seals of the steam piping. Structural columns rise on both sides of the plinth row to the turbine hall floor above.

The condenser plinths carried the largest single items of plant in the turbine hall basement. Each plinth was sized for the dead weight of the condenser shell plus the working weight of water and the dynamic loads of steam exhaust. White Bay's plinths were poured in the 1912-1917 build phase of A Station, with additions across the 1923-1928 and 1945-1948 phases. The plant closed on Christmas Day 1983. The plinths remain in place because they are integrated with the basement floor and could only be removed by demolition.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Concrete plinths stand in two rows inside the basement of White Bay Power Station's turbine hall. Each block rises roughly two metres high, their surfaces grey and water-stained. The rear wall is bare brick and render, scarred with bolt holes and pipe mounts where heavy machinery was stripped away. Faded green paint clings to the lower courses. A floor drain sits choked with grit and rubble. The light is flat, diffused, cold.

Brett Patman

The series

White Bay Power Station

2015–2018 · 124 photographs

White Bay Power Station ran on the western harbour edge at Rozelle from 1917 until production ceased on Christmas Day 1983. Built in three phases over thirty-six years to supply Sydney's electric tramways and then the city grid. The complex was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register in 1999.

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.