Turbine Hall Windows

The windows of the turbine hall at White Bay Power Station are a row of steel-framed industrial lights set high in the brick wall, the glazing divided by horizontal and vertical steel bars into individual panes. Several panes are missing, replaced by plywood infill panels fixed to the frame. The remaining glass is the original thick plate, the surface weathered to a slight frosting on the exterior face. The steel frames have rusted where the paint has broken down, the rust running in streaks down the brick below each window. At the base of each window opening a concrete sill projects outward to throw rain clear. The windows admit a diffuse, even light across the turbine hall floor below.

Industrial windows in a plant of the scale of White Bay Power Station provided ventilation and natural light to the main working floors. The turbine hall required adequate ventilation to remove the heat radiating from the turbine casings during operation, and the high windows in the brick wall served that function alongside providing working-level illumination before the widespread use of artificial lighting. The turbine hall was built across the A, B, and C Station phases from 1912 to 1948, with the window arrangement following the structural bay pattern of each build phase. White Bay ran from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983. After closure the windows were progressively secured during the 1990s decontamination. The heritage listing in April 1999 included the turbine hall building fabric.