Turbine Hall Basement

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 21mm · f/8.0 · 10s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The turbine hall basement, where massive concrete columns rise to the operating floor above. Steel structures heavy with oxidation stand between them, layers of flaked metal marking their slow deterioration. Chains hang from above and the walls carry decades of staining. The smell of thick machine grease still hangs in the air.

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.

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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

Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Turbine Hall Basement
Series: White Bay Power Station
Catalogue: WBP-084
Process: Giclée
Captured: 13 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 10s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 21 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 297 × 210 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 basement of the turbine hall at White Bay Power Station is a low-ceilinged concrete-lined space running the full length of the main hall above. The floor is concrete, with drainage channels running to central sumps. The condenser waterboxes are accessible from this level, the large circular cast-iron end covers bolted shut with heavy hex bolts around the full face. Circulating water inlet and outlet headers run along the basement walls, the flanged pipework painted in the same grey as the plant above. Steel ladders provide access to the condenser waterboxes and to the valve platforms above the main headers. The basement carries the smell of settled water and machine oil.

The turbine hall basement at White Bay Power Station gave access to the lower sections of the condenser plant. The condensers for the Parsons turbines were mounted directly below the turbine floors, with the circulating water headers running through the basement to the harbour intake on the eastern side of the site. White Bay drew harbour water for condenser cooling from the start of the station's operation in 1917. The condenser circuit ran continuously during normal operation, removing heat from the steam cycle at the turbine exhaust and returning it to the feedwater circuit. The station shut down on Christmas Eve 1983 and was formally decommissioned in 1984. The basement plant was included in the 1990s decontamination programme.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

In the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement, massive concrete columns rise toward the operating floor, their surfaces stained by decades of industry. Rusted steel structures loom overhead, their once-pristine frames now corroded and worn. Heavy chains dangle from above, forgotten and unmoving, remnants of machinery long at rest.

Brett Patman

The series

White Bay Power Station

124 photographs

White Bay Power Station is a former coal-fired power station on Wanngal Country at Rozelle, at the head of White Bay on Sydney Harbour, built to power Sydney's trams and suburban trains and in service from May 1917 until December 1983. The New South Wales Department of Railways designed it in its own drawing office and began building in June 1912. The turbine hall, boilerhouse, switch house and control room stand on a 38,000 square metre site behind two steel chimney stacks, the main steelwork stamped with British manufacturers' names.

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.