Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph, view angled down from the roof of Electricity Sub-Station #2 and south along the roadway between Building 7, Testing (left), and Buildings 3, 4 & 5 (Emulsion Coating, Roll Film & Sheet Film respectively) on the right, shows the progress of the buildings under construction, Kodak factory, Coburg, January 1958.

Buildings 4 and 5 (which appear to be completed externally and being fitted out internally), were typical of the structural style used in many of the manufacturing buildings throughout the complex. They were single-storey, low profile, with steel columns and steel trussed roofs. They had brick outer walls allowing large open spaced interiors with air-conditioning and other local services installed in the central ceiling space. This meant that any internal walls and divisions were light weight and non-load-bearing and could easily be altered to match changes to manufacturing requirements.

While Building 7 (which appears to be partly constructed), followed similar construction internally. Its special architectural features created a completely different vista for the public view from Elizabeth Street. A two-storey section (the rear of which is shown here) in the centre of the building served as a ground floor entrance, with management offices above. An aluminium framed facade on the single-storied eastern face hid the roofline. This required the other single-storey brick walls of this building, along with the walls of the sub-station shown here, to match the height of the front facade, again hiding the roofline.

Buildings 2 and 3 (Emulsion Making and Coating) were special purpose built four-storey steel reinforced concrete and brick walled structures. They had additional single-storied sections. The timber formwork shown on the right, surrounds the basement floor already poured for the multi-storey section. Steel reinforcing rods for the columns can be seen, along with a steel truss tower hoist.

Kodak manufactured and distributed a wide range of photographic products to Australasia, such as, film, paper, chemicals, cameras and miscellaneous equipment. Its client base included amateur and professional photographers as well as specialist medical and graphic art professionals who used photography, x-ray and other imaging techniques.

This photograph is part of the Kodak collection of products, promotional materials, photographs and working life artefacts collected from Kodak Australasia in 2005 after the manufacturing plant at Coburg had closed down the year before.

Description of Content

View of a streetscape at a construction site. Two single storey buildings in the background appear to be completed outside, while a building adjacent to the sub-station is still under construction. On the right, the first stages of a steel reinforced concrete structure appear to be underway. Several building workers can be seen doing various jobs including brick wall construction in the front left of the photo, and a steel trussed tower hoist can also be seen in the centre.

Physical Description

Black and white silver gelatin photograph printed on light weight paper, landscape format.

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