Adelaide Urbex – Page 15 of 46

August 24, 2016

Urban Exploring: Davaar House / TPI

The building of ‘Davaar’ was built in 1876 for prominent Adelaide wine and spirit merchant Mr William Johnston, who had migrated from Scotland to South Australia.

The mansion was described as

a handsome residence on South-terrace, consisting of 14 rooms, besides pantries, cellars, larder and bathrooms. The rooms are large and well-ventilated, those on the ground floor being 14 feet from floor to ceiling, and on the first floor 13 feet high. The house is fitted up with every requirement for comfort and convenience. The dining and drawing rooms have handsome bay windows, and ceilings furnished with enriched cornices and centre flowers. The entrance-hall is handsomely finished having at the back portion the main staircase, which is of blackwood. The building and fences cost £4,000.

“ Davaar” photographed late 1884-early 1885 , an exceptionally fine example of a residence in the High Victorian Italianate Style. (Photo courtesy State Library of South Australia)

William Johnston lived at Davaar with his second wife Margaret and only daughter Janet
until his death in 1879, after which Margaret returned to live in Scotland, taking Janet with
her, leaving the house in the hands of the Trustees of his estate. Margaret stayed in Scotland but Janet later returned to Adelaide, and after her marriage to Scotsman Dr John Henderson, in 1883, the couple lived in the family home.

The property changed hands a number of times after the Hendersons moved to Mount Lofty in late 1887. Numerous alterations and additions were made to the structure over time and in August 1950, the property was purchased at auction by the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Association of SA (T.P.I.) for £15,000. The T.P.I. Association provided support for veterans here from 1951 to 2009.

If you’ve driven past the corner of Hutt Street and South Terrace recently you may have seen the site under development. Davaar House will be restored to its former glory as the lobby for an eight-storey $25 million hotel overlooking the parklands. Currently looking a little worse-for-wear, the ground floor rooms will be converted into the hotel’s lobby and meeting rooms while upstairs will be converted into accommodation.

But before that happens, let’s take a look inside Adelaide’s house of Davaar:

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August 4, 2016

Urban Exploring: The Hoth System

Back in mid-2014, the Hoth System was forced to shut down, making its 100-or-so Adelaide-based workers redundant. It operated for nearly 80 years before ending operations.

It has sat deserted ever since.

At the current time, the Hoth System is in the midst of asbestos removal and demolition. 24-hour security and the on-site dog are protecting the site while this process occurs.

These images, taken soon after the plant was shut down, are here to serve as a historical record of what the plant was like 12-24 months ago.

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July 20, 2016

Urban Exploring: Port Augusta Power Station Playford A & B

This coming Saturday will mark the 62-year anniversary of the opening of the Port Augusta Playford A Power Station. The Governor, Sir Robert George, officially opened the Port Augusta Power Station on 23 July 1954. It was the first South Australian Power Station to use local fuel exclusively. Prior to the discovery of brown coal at Leigh Creek, South Australia had to import its needs from other states.

During the first 12 months of operation, the station generated 164,746,800 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The second 12 months over doubled that amount issuing in an era of cheap electricity for South Australians.

Port Augusta Playford A and Playford B Power Stations. — Port Augusta Power Station. Playford A Station (left) and Playford B Station (right).

On 20 July 1960, Premier Sir Thomas Playford opened the second power station – “Station B”. Costing £21,000,000, with the addition of the “A” Station and the Leigh Creek Coal Field brought the total cost of the State project to almost £40,000,000. The power stations were re-named to “Playford A” and “Playford B” in his honour.

Port Augusta Playford B Turbine. — Playford B Turbine transmitting 275,000 volts.

Large turbines drove an electrical alternator generating 60,000 kilowatts at 11,000 volts. The power then passed through cables to massive transformers in the switchyard where it was transformed to 275,000 volts for transmission to Adelaide. All this was controlled and operated from the stations Control Room. From this Control Room, which served both “A” and “B” Stations, the operators were in direct touch with the centre in Adelaide which, from there, controlled the distribution throughout the network.

Port Augusta Playford A and B Control Room. — Playford A and B Control Room — the nerve centre of station operations.

By the end of the Playford era, South Australia had one of the cheapest and most efficient electricity networks in the world.

Playford B was mothballed in 2012 and its permanent closure was announced by operator Alinta Energy in October 2015. Currently, it’s in the advanced stages of demolition. Nothing remains of Playford A except its exterior walls.