Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital Buildings
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 pound 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 pounds. Work was then sub-contracted out. The final cost of the hospital was £150,000, the extra £50,000 pounds 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.