Port Arthur Separate Prison ::

Project Description::

Constructed in stages from 1849, the Separate Prison is significant as chilling evidence of the 19th century’s moral phobias and experimental initiatives. Based on Quaker principles of penitence brought about by silence and control, the Prison was a strict machine to subdue unruly convicts. It is a focal element in this World-Heritage nominated Port Arthur site.

Ruined by bushfires in 1895, the Prison, has had a series of ad-hoc conservation and reconstruction measures undertaken since the 1930s, many of which have confused its understanding. The stone fabric is in poor condition and a small range of timber and iron elements form the original building remain, overlaid with reconstructions from the 1970s.

Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, with Peter Emmett and X Squared, have completed a Master Plan for a four-stage conservation of the entire Prison, creating a defined sequence of reconstructed, interpreted and simply conserved spaces, to enable the visitor to comprehend the significance and history of this major building. Extensive stonework conservation and repair is a large part of the project, which will seek to fully reconstruct the entry spaces and central hall as well as one of the three cell block wings, where the full machinery of control and subjugation that characterised the operational prison will be recreated. The second wing, less intact, will be used to interpret the significant themes of the prison. The third will be left as an evocative ruin – the condition of the entire building for 100 years.

The project will be a benchmark for the future conservation of convict structures in Australia, and will be central to the experience of Port Arthur.