The Balgowlah Substation is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

former

electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station an ...

and now child care centre located at 83 Griffiths Street,

Balgowlah Balgowlah is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balgowlah (or Bulgowlah) said to be an Aboriginal name for "North Harbour". The area now known as Balgowlah was known to the Aboriginals as Jilling. Balgowla ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia. It was built in 1928. It is also known as #15003 Balgowlah 33 kV Zone Substation. The property is owned by

Ausgrid Ausgrid is an electricity distribution company which owns, maintains and operates the electrical networks supplying 1.8 million customers servicing more than 4 million people in Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wale ...

, a privately owned energy

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

company. The property was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

Prior to 1928 the site was in agricultural use.Heritage Division report, 9 November 2016. The Balgowlah Zone substation is a purpose designed and built structure dating from 1928. "M.C. of S.ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT SUBSTATION no. 191" and "1928" appear above the entrances in relief. It is a similar design to the Pymble and Randwick substations. In 1926, the Municipal Council of Sydney acquired the subject land for the purpose of constructing a new substation to meet increasing demands for electricity in the Municipality of Manly. Prior to this the land was vacant. Balgowlah Zone Substation was erected on the site in 1928 with the following relief signage above the door "M.C. of S. Electricity Department Substation no. 191, 1928". Upon its formation in 1951, ownership of the substation was transferred to MacKellar County Council (MCC). Elcom briefly took possession of the substation before MCC reacquired it in 1955. Substantial maintenance works were undertaken in 1976 including replacement of the boundary fence, repairs to the roof, and re-painting. In 1979, MCC was absorbed into

Sydney County Council The Sydney County Council (SCC) was a County council (New South Wales), county council established in 1935 to produce electricity and operate the electricity network in a number of municipalities in metropolitan Sydney. SCC was established by t ...

(SCC), and thus SCC took over Balgowlah Zone Substation. The same year, SCC undertook transformer upgrade works including the installation of additional switchgear and the replacement of transformer cables. SCC would later become Sydney Electricity, which was absorbed into

EnergyAustralia EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy) is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using ...

in 1996. In 2011 EnergyAustralia's electricity distribution network was rebranded as Ausgrid. In 1980, following noise complaints, brick screen walls were constructed on the northern and eastern sides of the transformer bays. Although this served to reduce high frequency noise, noise complaints continued. To further reduce reverberation the transformer bays were enclosed by masonry construction and cooling fans installed. Further switchgear and transformer upgrade works were undertaken in 1985.

Description

Development in the surrounding area is primarily low density residential, with single and two storey residences dominating the streetscape. Infill development in the neighbourhood comprises medium density interwar and 1960s apartment blocks and a primary school opposite the site on Griffiths Street. The Balgowlah Zone substation is an elegant single and two storey structure. It is a refined and well detailed face brick building designed in the Interwar Stripped Classical style evidenced by the vertically emphasised form and facade detailing,

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

and groupings of arched multi-paned windows. Stylistic elements also include recessed facade panels incorporating corbelled

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...

. Decorative elements include contrasting brickwork, repetitive arch motifs and cement rendered

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

plaques within the arches. Two large entrances with roller shutters provide access. The substation is constructed with load-bearing face brick and incorporates brick arches to all facade openings. Large plant doorways are steel roller shuttered. The transformer bays and outbuildings sit atop

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

and a distinctive cut sandstone rock-face is prominent at the rear of the site. Repetitive arch motifs and cement rendered lintel plaques are located within the arches. Two large entrances with roller shutters provide access.

Heritage listing

As at 8 November 2000, the Balgowlah Zone substation was an elegant and refined example of a well detailed face brick substation building designed in the interwar period. It is a rare and representative example of this style and considered to be of State Significance. The substation was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Attribution

{{Ausgrid New South Wales State Heritage Register Balgowlah, New South Wales Electric power infrastructure in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register 1928 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1928 Buildings and structures in Sydney Energy infrastructure completed in 1928