Item MM 98596 Photograph - Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd, Exterior View of Building 8 and Car Park, Head Office & Sales & Marketing at the Kodak Factory, Coburg, circa 1965

Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph taken by Wolfgang Sievers of an exterior view of Building 8 and car park in the newly constructed Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd factory complex in Coburg, circa 1965.

Building 8 housed the Kodak Head Offices and Sales and Marketing Division. In the distance, far right, are cooling towers from the Powerhouse. This was also known as Building 11 and was the central utilities operation for the entire Coburg site. One of the main functions of the building operations was to produce steam for process heating and as an energy source. Another function was to purify water to various grades that could be used for production and general use.

Architect Harry Norris of H A & F L Norris & Associates, created the design for the new factory and individual buildings, while the building contract was awarded to Lewis Constructions Pty Ltd. Building 8 was a steel and concrete framed brick infill structure featuring large areas of window glass and a unique air conditioning system to deal with the high solar loads. It consisted of four sections: the main office building of five floors plus services basement and under car parking area; the services block that consisted of five floors plus basement and additional sixth floor and elevator room; the reception area which was a single floor at ground level with under-floor amenities area (later filled in as a marketing theatre and entertaining area) and the computing centre block which was a single floor at ground level with under floor access for computer services.

The still uncompleted Coburg factory complex was officially opened on 14 April 1961 by the Prime Minister, Robert G. Menzies with Dr. A Chapman, President of Eastman Kodak Company, in attendance. The complex was the national headquarters of Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd and its manufacture of silver halide photographic products. It replaced the Abbotsford factory where Kodak had been operating since 1908. The Abbotsford premises eventually closed in 1966.

Wolfgang Sievers is widely recognised as one of Australia's most significant architectural and industrial photographers. He pioneered a modernist photographic style influenced by the Bauhaus, and his work celebrates industry and the worker. Sievers was commissioned to document the newly constructed Kodak Coburg plant. He subsequently took several hundred black & white and colour images that highlighted the modern architectural and industrial design features of the complex.

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, when the Melbourne manufacturing plant at Coburg closed down.

Description of Content

The main focus of the image is a multi-storey building with strong vertical lines segmenting windows. The building is shown on an angle which emphasises the grid structure of the side of the building being shown. At ground level, there are car spaces beneath the building. To the left, there are parked cars in front of the building. To the right, there is a low level feature wall with "KODAK" signage. Behind this, in the distance to the right, there is a building with pipes and three tanks or towers. At the side of the building to the right, two women are walking along a pathway. In the foreground is a grass area.

Physical Description

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