Reverberating sewage and garbage

A reverberatory incinerator uses a vertical top gravity feed process. It was an Australian patented design by Essendon engineer John Boadle. It achieved much higher efficiency preheating and partly drying the refuse whilst it moved down a sloping, vibrating grate within the combustion chamber. The combustion chamber was designed to ‘reverberate’ heat on to the incoming refuse. The vertical top gravity feed process required incinerator buildings to be built on steeply sloping sites or embankments.

So, yes, in answer to Letty's query of yesterday, an incinerator for burning stuff, just not amputated legs! Household refuse and sanitation bins. As you can see from the clipping, there were NIMBYs in those days, too. Eventually these complaints became a crescendo and the incinerator was stopped in 1974. It was converted into a restaurant for a few years, then a set of offices for architects, then it remained empty for a decade. Then Willoughby Council came to the rescue, and voila, The Incinerator Art Space.

Thomson House - 156 Edinburgh Road

Interesting task to walk around the Castlecrag Estate (Burley Griffin's first development) and try to pick the "WBG houses". I have a list of them, but trying to pick them by style alone is a challenge. I thought this was one, and I was not out by much. The house next door is the Felstead House, built in 1924. But what of this rapidly deteriorating specimen?

It is 'the Thomson House' built in 1946 from a design by Griffin's partner, Eric Nicholls, remembering that Griffin passed away in 1937. I guess it has been 67 years, but I still find this kinda sad. The most recent sale that I can find was 1999 when it changed hands for $1,450,000. It is on an 850sq m block. The garden is overgrown, but I suspect the adding of the second storey has obliterated the clean lines of the original house. The sandstone decoration I find a delight, as are the entrance way and the garage, which could also do with some TLC.