Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the male washroom on the ground floor of Building 5 Sheet Film, Kodak factory, Coburg, June 1958.

Building 5 was typical of the structural style used in many of the manufacturing buildings throughout the complex. It was single-storey, low profile, with encased steel columns and steel trussed roofs. It had brick outer walls allowing large open spaced interiors. Air-conditioning and other local services were installed in the central ceiling space. This meant that any internal walls and divisions were light weight, non-load-bearing, and could easily be altered to match changes to manufacturing requirements.

In this image of the male washroom, pre-fabricated terrazzo shower bases and walls are being erected against a ceramic tiled rear wall. These shower recesses were eventually finished with polished timber doors and a vinyl tiled surround floor. All washrooms and toilet blocks throughout the complex buildings used the latest available building materials to enable clean and healthy environments for the staff, and also for the photographic products which were very sensitive to biological and other contaminants.

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

Image of shower recesses being erected with terrazzo and ceramic tiled walls and floors.

Physical Description

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

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