The Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital Buildings are a heritage-listed complex which formed the former Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital, located at Hospital Road, Concord West, City of Canada Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The site is now used for the Rivendell Child, Adolescent and Family Unit. The buildings were designed by Sir John Sulman and built from 1890 to 1893 by Alexander M. Allen. It includes the former Joanna Walker Convalescent Hospital. The property is owned by the New South Wales Department of Health. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
History
The original Thomas Walker estate at Concord was an area of 390 acres. The establishment of the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital was initiated by a £100,000 bequest in the will of Thomas Walker, who died in 1886. He was a philanthropist, at various times a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, President and Director of the Bank of New South Wales, a magistrate and a prominent man of commerce.
Walker resided at Yaralla Estate at Concord, later to become known as the Dame Eadith Walker Estate, home to the Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital, located on the next peninsula east of today's Rivendell. He requested in his will that a portion of the Estate, known as Rocky Point be set aside for the building of the Hospital. This would fulfil a desire he had been harbouring for some time during his life but had been unable to fulfil due to other pressures.
To fulfil Walker's wishes, the executors of the will Joanna Walker, Thomas Walker's sister, A. Consett Stephens and A. J. Mackenzie announced a competition in April 1888 for the design of a convalescent hospital on Rocky Point. Judges were Thomas Buckland, Thomas Rowe and a qualified physician. The winning design was John Kirkpatrick.
The reasons for Sulman becoming Architect are not clear. However, Kirkpatrick's scheme was criticised as being too expensive and in mid-1889 it was announced that although Kirkpatrick's design was to be built, the architectural commission had been given to Messrs Sulman and Power. This led to further criticism.
John Sulman had also been engaged as a consultant during the competition and had been acting as an advisor to one of the Trustees. A new plan was recommended combining features of several of the competition designs, but the Trustees were under no obligation to appoint the competition winner as architect. This may help to explain his appointment.
Tenders were called for the building of the hospital in August 1889. In December Alexander M. Allen was accepted with a quote of £65,189. Work was then sub-contracted out. The final cost of the hospital was £150,000, the extra £50,000 being contributed by Eadith Walker, Joanna Walker and Anne Sulman, Eadith's childhood companion.
Gas was supplied to the convalescent home in 1892 from the new Australian Gaslight's company at Mortlake. The opportunity was taken to lay mains to supply Yaralla and its grounds as well.Kass 1995: 8
The hospital was opened on 21 September 1893 and was used for convalescence until World War II. No infectious or terminal cases were admitted to the hospital and all patients were referred by doctors from hospitals such as Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney Hospital, Concord Repatriation General Hospital and Burwood hospital. The patients were not charged for their care, Walker's endowment providing for four week stays with a provision for a stay of two months if necessary.Walhaus et.al. 1986: 3-14
In 1894 the Joanna Walker Memorial Children's Convalescent Hospital was opened in the hospital grounds. It was also designed by John Sulman. The hospital was adjacent to the main building and contained places for 12 children with an airy central courtyard.Schwager Brooks1992
Mr J. Upton senior was in charge of the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital's grounds for 16 years, a position he resigned to take up the business of carnation growing. Upton Sen was a member of the Horticultural Society of NSW for 34 years. He was a very successful exhibitor of roses and chrysanthemums when in charge of the gardens of the late J. C. Smith and the late James Toohey, MLA of Strathfield. Upton Sen was born in England and received his training from experienced head gardeners near Birmingham and was last employed at Perry Hall, South Staffordshire. He arrived in Australia in 1887.Parsons/RHS NSW, 2012, 26
In 1897 were the last round of renovations.
In 1920 there was a major subdivision of the Walker estate between Concord Road and the gates of the Dame Eadith Walker Estate (Yaralla), forming much of today's Concord West suburb.
In February 1943 the military took possession of the hospital under regulation 54 of the National Security (General) Regulations Act. The use of the hospital for convalescence was discontinued and was run by the Australian Red Cross as the 3rd Australian Women's Hospital until March/April 1946. The Perpetual Trustees regained control of the estate in 1946 and the hospital was again used for public convalescence. In the intervening years, increased affluence and general living standards, the establishment of a broad range of government-funded social welfare provisions and the development of antibiotics meant that many debilitating illnesses such as scarlet fever and tuberculosis were virtually eliminated or at least rendered innocuous. The demand for the facilities offered by the hospital declined from the 1950s. By the 1970s increasing costs combined with declining need rendered continued use of the hospital as a free convalescent hospital impracticable.Otto Cserhalmi & Partners, 1997, 44
In 1976 the Trustees decided that the use of the site as a convalescent hospital was no longer a viable proposition and entrusted it to the NSW Health Commission on the condition that it be used as closely as possible to Thomas Walker's intentions.
Administration of the site was given to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital who used it for seven years as Rivendell Adolescent Unit, a rehabilitation centre for emotionally disturbed adolescents set up 1977. The Joanna Walker Memorial Children's Convalescent Hospital was taken over by the Concord Historical Society in 1972, though later returned to the health service. In the 1980s the hospital was administered by the Health Commission of NSW on the condition that it should keep as closely as possible to the convalescent ideal embodied in the will of Thomas Walker. Rivendell, now administered by the Central Sydney Area Health Service, combines therapy, counselling and school classes for teenagers who board at the centre through the school week, returning to their families at weekends.Otto Cserhalmi & Partners, 1997, 43-4
Description The Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital is situated on the Parramatta River bounded by Brays Bay and Yaralla Bay.Eagle Consulting 1993:2 It is a large complex on a large park-like riverside estate, with extensive and prominent landscape plantings, making it a landmark along the river.
Grounds An extensive garden principally of trees and lawn, unaltered in layout and adequately maintained, but in need of more careful and sympathetic replanting respecting the strict symmetry of its design. A symmetrical design of sweeping brick edged paths, drives, lawns and specimen planting around a symmetrically planned institution and having considerable frontage to the Parramatta River.
A central entrance drive (with borders replanted 1981), leads to a turning circle planted with an Araucaria pine from which drives lead off on either side to encircle the building.
On the river side a central path bordered with Thujas, and palms (jelly palm, Butia capitata); many now removed), slopes from the hospital to its "water gate". The water gate is flanked by a symmetrical pair of Cook's pines, (Araucaria columnaris). Further drives extend from the water gate along the shore and then curve up to the extremities of the hospital's wings, enclosing areas of lawn on either side of the central path planted symmetrically with pines, Araucarias, figs etc. Two enclosed grassed, colonnaded courtyards with fountains (replanted 1981).
Within the grounds are extensive gardens and subsidiary outbuildings including stables, a gatehouse, the Joanna Walker Memorial Convalescent Children's Cottage Hospital and a wharf, including a two storey brick entry building flanked by two towering Cook's pines, (Araucaria columnaris). These buildings are compatible with the style of the main complex.Bedford 1980
Plantings near the main complex feature mature Cook's pines (Araucaria columnaris) including a pair flanking a riverside wharf entry building, a collection of palms including Canary Island palms (Phoenix canariensis), P. Reclinata, coral trees (Erythrina indica) and others.
Plantings as of 1 July 2004 included: North of the main building: Bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii), Cooks pine (Araucaria columnaris), brush box, (Lophostemon confertus), Bhutan cypresses, (Cupressus torulosa), Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), Cocos Island/queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana), azaleas, Rhododendron indicum cv.s around bases of buildings, box elders (Acer negundo), Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla, Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia), turpentines (Syncarpia glomulifera), camphor laurels (Cinnamomum camphora), Qld. Kauri (Agathis robusta) (pair of, near river), kaffir plum (Harpephyllum afrum), NZ christmas tree/pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), carob (Ceratonia siliqua), Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), coral tree (Erythrina sp. (probably E.x sykesii)) (near water gate), port wine magnolia (Michelia figo) (against west wing), Chinese rose (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cv.) (against west wing) and Camellia sasanqua cv. West of the main building: giant golden striped bamboo (Bambusa sp.), funeral cypress (Cupressus funebris), Mexican pine (Pinus patula), firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus), giant lily pilly (Waterhousea floribunda), umbrella tree (Heptapleurum actinophyllum), Himalayan cedars (Cedrus deodara), Qld. black bean (Castanospermum australe) On drive to south (of main building): red oak (Quercus coccinea), lily pilly (Acmena smithii), brush box (Lophostemon confertus), orchid/butterfly tree (Bauhinia variegata), African olive (hedge) (Olea europaea var. africana), cocks comb coral tree (Erythrina crista-galli), apple blossom (Abelia grandiflora), Cape/Jameson daisy (Gerbera jamesonii cv.s), Cotoneaster sp., Sacred/heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) On the drive: oleander (Nerium oleander cv.s), bottlebrush (Callistemon sp/cv.s), either Chir/Himalayan pine (Pinus roxburghii) or Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis), evergreen magnolia/bull bay (Magnolia grandiflora (2 on either side of north wing), Cocos Island/queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana) (several) On the avenue to water gate: Jelly palms (Butia capitata), Phoenix reclinata, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana cv., NSW christmas bush (Ceratopetalum gummiferum), Camellia japonica cvs., Hill's figs (Ficus microcarpa var. Hillii), Himalayan cedars (Cedrus deodara), silky oaks (Grevillea robusta) Courtyard plantings: tree ferns (Cyathea sp.), Gordonia axillaris (2), frangipani (Plumeria rubra cv.s)
Buildings
Main Complex
The main Thomas Walker Hospital complex is of Federation style based on a pavilion format. Each pavilion is planned to retain its functional integrity with the central block for administration and service wings on each side.
The two-storeyed central block includes an intricately detailed three storeyed tower over the main entrance, an impressive vestibule and an entertainment hall for 300 people. Sandstone wood panelling is found internally and externally. The hospital comprises eight main buildings:-