The Laundry

Built-in 1918  

The laundry was erected in 1918, replacing an earlier building that had been seriously damaged by fire in 1916. The building was erected for £17,000 and included a steam laundry plant, water services and electric light. This one-storey brick building measures 123 feet by 188 feet. The building contained a receiving room for dirty linen, drying cabinets, an ironing and folding room, a distributing room for clean linen, an engineer's workshop, a store and a messroom. All rooms were equipped with the latest appliances to handle laundry work on the site.

The design of the building was subsequently based on the laundry of the Brisbane General Hospital.

In 2025, the building is used as an office and a canteen, with hospital complex-related paraphernalia stored within, including a straitjacket, a gurney, medical implements, a gramophone and records, sewing machines, and a restraint chair. It also has a Leadlight window depicting St Dymphna removed from the hospital’s demolished catholic chapel.

 

Chronology

1918: construction

1947: additional toilet accommodation was added to the western elevation.

1957: awning to western elevation over dispatch platform

1961: workshop converted to staff

1962: Office for the Superintendent

1963: new store

1964: alterations to the male staffroom

1967: glass louvres installed together with fly-screening

1970: additional toilet accommodation

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