This year marks a decade since the Burnie Paper Mill (Associated Pulp and Paper Mills) closed down. I’ve been reflecting on the history of the mill through my own photographs, and archive photographs.My inspiration for making photographs of sites like the mill is to record a quality record of architecture for posterity. I find it fascinating looking through archive photographs from library collections and this inspires me to capture my own photographs and inspires my process of creation. The Burnie Paper Mill was first etched into my memory when I was a young teenager sitting in the back seat of the family car as we did our first tour throughout Tasmania. I remember the contrast of rural green pastures and forested hills of the region juxtaposed with grand scale industry and manufacturing as we got closer to Burnie. The Tioxide factory (producing chemicals for use in paints and plastics) just outside of Burnie certainly left a lasting impression. The grand scale of Tioxide with its numerous pipes and chimneys was impressive, as was the Tioxide factory effluent that was pumped out into Bass Strait, staining the coastline rust orange.
Burnie Paper Mill Administration Building - Thomas Ryan Photography
Cathedral of Industry - The Burnie Paper Mill had a wonderful range of Industrial Modernism - Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-160370357-1
Carrying around the next bend from Tioxide I remember the gouged out hillside where previously it would have once met the ocean, and where there were other industries underneath this cut out hill also occupying this space. In the distance the first sight of the Burnie Paper Mill. I remember being in awe of the sheer size of the Tioxide and Burnie Paper Mills and the functional industrial landscape that made up this region. Whilst we drove on past Burnie to get to other places, those split seconds of seeing these factories were etched into my mind and left a lasting impression.
The Tioxide factory (producing chemicals for use in paints and plastics) just outside of Burnie certainly left a lasting impression on me as a child - Tasmanian Archives: AB713-1-11114
The grand scale of Tioxide with its numerous pipes and chimneys was impressive, as was the Tioxide factory effluent that was pumped out into Bass Strait, staining the coastline rust orange - Tasmanian Archives: AA193-1-487
The sheer size of the Burnie Paper Mill is impressive and wonderfully represented from this aerial photograph - Tasmanian Archives: AA193-1-459P1
The Burnie Paper Mill became a reality in 1936 when a contract was signed for building plans and plant machinery. During this period tenders were sought for additional plant machinery and for the construction of the mill itself. The initial machinery that was imported from England was reported to be able to create 15,000 tonnes of paper products annually. The installation of a second machine in 1939 planned to increase that output to 22,500 tonnes per year. During the early 1960s the mill had approximately 1200 workers, but at its height this number was closer to 4000. Burnie grew rapidly and was transformed as a city because of the Burnie Paper Mill and other industries. In 1947 Burnie’s population grew rapidly from 6,659 in 1933 to 10,080 by 1947. This population growth as a result of new industry was noted by Premier Robert Cosgrove at the time, who observed that ‘’the rapid growth of population in and around Burnie mirrored the industrial advancement of the centre which could now claim to be the third biggest town in the State’’ This population boom and subsequent requirement for housing resulted in a building boom that’s resulted in Burnie having a rich tapestry of Modernist designs including residential, commercial, industrial and civic architecture.
Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-144986712-1
Tasmanian Archives: AA193-1-479
Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-144988363-1
Tasmanian Archives: AA193-1-481
Many women were employed at the Burnie Paper Mill. Pictured is the finishing room. Watch the video from 1956 where every single sheet is inspected for imperfections at impressive speed all by hand, counting a ream of 500 sheets of paper in a minute! Tasmanian Archives: AA193-1-478
Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-144986916-1
Fast forward to 2010, I remember being in Burnie and witnessing the last weeks of the mill in operation. The pipes and chimney stacks were churning out steam and smoke and the industrial sounds made it feel like it was just another day in the life of the mill. That day I captured photographs and watched the remaining employees finish their shift and walk out those large steel frame mill gates. I reflected upon how this all too familiar scene was soon to be no more. The 70 plus years of operations of the mill and the workers who ‘’had a job for life’’ in an industry that helped to shape Burnie and Tasmania would fall into silence and be but a memory.
There were a vast range of buildings spanning the Modernist period of design that made up the vastness of the Burnie Paper Mill. Whilst a heritage assessment of 57 buildings on the site was undertaken, the bulk of the site was approved for demolition. Two stunning examples of Art Deco architecture remain - the former service and administration buildings which stand as remnant reminders of what was once a mighty cathedral of industry. Today these buildings have been faithfully restored and adaptively reused. There were a series of Art Deco offices that faced the Bass highway, which looked more akin to homes - the attention to detail of these buildings, especially in the brickwork, was amazing.
There were a series of Art Deco offices (above) that faced the Bass highway, which looked more akin to homes - the attention to detail of these buildings, especially in the brickwork, was amazing - Thomas Ryan Photography
Intricate and beautifully detailed brickwork - Thomas Ryan Photography
The Burnie Paper Mill was a grand labyrinth of imposing industrial architecture complemented by beautiful maintained lawns and gardens. These manicured gardens were formal and well maintained, showcasing typical garden design of the period. The use of such gardens was a common sight throughout many industrial complexes throughout Tasmania. The mill provided a wide range of services and facilities for use by employees. These included a dentist, kindergarten facilities, indoor gym, as well as a grand ballroom hall and cafeteria. The Mill also provided housing for its employees, constructing a vast array of homes for its workers. Many of the facilities for the mill workers and their families were located in the purpose built Services building, a grand Art Deco design designed in 1943.
Services Building, Burnie Paper Mill - The Burnie Paper Mill was a grand labyrinth of imposing industrial architecture complemented by beautiful maintained lawns and gardens. The mill provided a wide range of services and facilities for use by employees. These included a dentist, kindergarten facilities, indoor gym, as well as a grand ballroom hall and cafeteria. Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-161238326-1
The Burnie Paper Mill was a grand labyrinth of imposing industrial architecture complemented by beautiful maintained lawns and gardens. These manicured gardens were formal and well maintained, showcasing typical garden design of the period. Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-144989161-1
The Mill was a place of industry for making paper, but its workforce was seen as a valued and integral part of its operations, for whom the mill management took great pride in providing services and facilities. This sentiment and pride was apparent at the official opening, which had over 1000 people in attendance, when one of the board of directors said
“...we want every employee to feel a personal and community interest in the building and the activities that come associated with it. We have, therefore, tried to make this a notable structure in which you can take individual pride...let us all, therefore, seek to maintain it as the bright and beautiful thing it now is...behind us stands a factory which produces paper. Here we are in the centre of a new human kind of factory which I hope will produce human happiness and well-being”
Burnie Paper Mill staff during lunch in the grand 1930s cafeteria and ballroom of the Services Building - Wolfgang Sievers Collection, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-nla.obj-144986813-1
For me, documenting the Burnie Paper Mill was important as I knew this was an end of an era and how much it was intertwined into with the history of the people of Burnie and how it has shaped the city and it’s architecture. Now largely a memory, my photographs are all I have to remember the once mighty mill by. The process of documenting a site such as the Burnie Paper Mill and historic archive photographs play such an important role in providing a narrative to our shared past of how things were at a particular point in time. The Burnie Paper Mill - A life and industry that is now but a memory, but forever remembered through the power and storytelling of the photograph. View photographs from my collection of the Burnie Paper Mill photography project documenting the mill on my website. I have many years of photographs and due to my in-depth documentation I am always adding new photographs to the collection as I edit them.
This photograph of mill workers signing out for the day many years ago was reminiscent to the last week I witnessed of the mills operations before it closed down in 2010. That day in 2010 I captured photographs of the mill and watched the remaining employees finish their shift and walk out those large steel frame mill gates - just as they did everyday for the past 70 years. This photograph (above) reminds me of everyday moments in our lives and how important they become when looking back at them. It’s what drives me to document and archive through photography. Tasmanian Archives:AA193-1-462
