Wacol Repatriation Complex

Towards the end of World War 1, the hospital began receiving a new type of patient - those with mental disorders specifically caused by involvement in the war. 'War veterans' became an increasingly significant minority among the inmate population as the war finished and soldiers returned home. With the Commonwealth Government establishing special hospital facilities for the treatment of physically injured, the question of establishing separate facilities for veterans with mental disorders was raised. HB Ellerton discussed the issue in his Annual Report of 1917 and commented that while the idea had some merit, on balance, it was more desirable to treat war veterans in an established institution such as Goodna. He argued that in a separate institution, inmates would not have access to 'experienced medical officers, specially trained and qualified matrons and nursing staff'. Ellerton also argued that veterans would have to be accommodated in hospitals of ordinary design. Such accommodation, he maintained would be 'wanting other accommodation as found in all mental hospitals such as is provided in the yard gardens, and extensive grounds, out-door recreations, in-door amusements, and emenainments, and finally, occupations under those qualified to supervise their work.'s• With the onset of World War 2, the question of special facilities for the treatment of returned soldiers was again raised. By January 1942, 110 returned soldiers were inmates of the Goodna Mental Hospital. The Commonwealth Government expressed concern about the growing number of soldiers admitted to Goodna and approached the Queensland Government about the construction of purpose-built facilities. A review found that at least eighty beds were required for those whose condition was precipitated by war service."° The Commonwealth agreed to fund the construction of three special wards and the Queensland government was to be responsible for the maintenance ~£ the buildings and staffing. The Repatriation Commission was to pay for the treatment on a per capita basis."

Plans for a complete repatriation unit were prepared by the Works Department in consultation with Basil Stafford, the Director of Mental Hygiene. The unit was designed to be self-contained with three wards and kitchen/dining facilities. According to Stafford, the buildings were based on 'modern design' concepts, but were essentially the old principles of moral therapy resurrected and reinterpreted. The buildings were designed to eliminate the idea of confinement usually associated with mental hospitals, the freedom being emphasised by wide verandahs and the patients' dining areas opening directly onto grassed courtyards and lawns.62 Specially designed steel frame windows were included in the design to give protection to the patients without the need for iron bars or grating, to give the illusion of freedom." Construction on the buildings commenced in 1946, and the Wacol Repatriation Pavilion was opened on 26 January 1948 by Governor John Lavarack. The complex comprised three similar ward blocks with accommodation for 88 patients, and a kitchen/ canteen block. A recreation hall was completed in the 1950s. A cricket oval was constructed by patients in 1954-55. 

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Ward A

Ward A is a single-storey brick building erected in 1948. It was to accommodate ex-servicemen requiring treaatment for mental disorders.

Ward A was one of two similar U-shaped blocks. It was constructed of cream brick with the roof of red asbestos cement tiles. The building comprised a main block containing a lounge, a recreation room, fifteen single bedrooms, a kitchen and ironing rooms, nurses' rooms, a lavatory, a bathroom an ancillary room.

rooms. Two wings projected from the centre block. One contained offices, doctors' and examination rooms, store rooms and a spacious visitor's room; the other, nine bedrooms and a lavatory. A boiler room was constructed underneath the bathroom. The kitchenette and laundry were designed for patients' use to give them a feeling of independence by providing them with facilities for preparing light refreshments for themselves or doing small laundry and pressing. The verandah opened onto a grassy, terraced lawn.

Renovations to the building in 1975 reduced the number of single rooms, as several were converted to provide toilets and showers to be shared by the adjacent rooms on each side.​

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1948: Two wards, a kitchen  and a recreation block opened

1950: theatrette provided to the lounge room 

1975: conversion of some rooms to bath/toilet facilities

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​Ward B 

This building was erected in 1948 to specifically accommodate ex-servicemen suffering mental disorders. Previously returned ex-servicemen had been accommodated in the general section of the Goodna Mental Hospital. Ward B was similar to Ward A  in construction.​

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Ward C

This building was erected in 1948 specifically to accommodate ex-servicemen suffering from mental disorders. Ward C differed from the other two wards with its H-shaped plan form. One wing contained two, fifteen-bed wards. The centre section comprised ten single rooms, a nurses' room, bathrooms, lavatories, a kitchenette and laundry in the centre. An occupational therapy room was built in the basement in 1957, and in the same year, Ward C was converted to a closed ward for restless repatriation patients whose behaviour was unsuitable for the Wacol Pavilion. A verandah was added to Ward C in 1958/9 for occupational therapy, and the dining room was enclosed in 1965. 

To provide additional external shaded areas, a large open roof area was attached to the north-west elevation in 1990.

1958: occupational therapy area

1990: open covered area

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Kitchen/Canteen

This building was erected as a cafeteria block for the Wacol repatriation pavilion in 1948. It contained a dining room, kitchen, scullery, cool rooms, preparation rooms, store room and lavatories. The cafeteria-style dining room could accommodate 96 diners. An open-fronted can

teen, flanked by flower boxes, was built underneath the front portion of the building for the use of patients and friends and opened onto a terraced grassed lawn.

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Grounds

The grounds of the Wacol Repatriation Pavilion comprise a mix of evenly sloped lawns with trees randomly planted between the buildings. Oleander clumps were formally spaced along both sides of the former entry.

A cricket oval is situated to the southeast of the complex. It was built by patient labour in 1954-5 and has significant features such as stone retaining walls, a white picket fence and a timber sight screen.