Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.
Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.

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

Beneath the White Bay Power Station, the turbine hall basement sits in perpetual twilight. Flooded concrete floors mirror the abandoned, colossal machinery. This industrial heart once powered Sydney.

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
Size
Type
Colour
✓
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

Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.Turbine Hall Basement at White Bay Power Station, in the shadowy depths of the White Bay Power Station Turbine Hall basement.
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
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 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 Day 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

White Bay Power Station

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.

Anatomy · true ratio
07 MORE FROM WHITE BAY POWER STATION

123 other prints in this series

All prints
Control Room at White Bay Power Station, a curved control console wraps across the room in a wide arc.
Control Room $100.00
Turbine Hall at White Bay Power Station, reinforced concrete walls rise three storeys on each side, their surfaces stained.
Turbine Hall $100.00
Glass Curtain at White Bay Power Station, a towering mosaic of glass and steel, where light filters through dust-streaked.
Glass Curtain $100.00
Turbine and Condenser at White Bay Power Station, a steam turbine and its condenser sit on the operating floor of White Bay.
Turbine and Condenser $100.00
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

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