rob's experience @ Sunnyside Asylum

Sunnyside's Last Gasp

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votes: 4

rooflessinside looking outstairway to heavenfrom the grassy knollthird storeydown the garden pathback downsilhouettewhats leftfrom the sideskythe stairway lies on the whispering windstairsroofless 2hdr attempt #1hdr attempt #2

Just a quick mish to take some photos before this place disappears entirely: a victim of sprawling suburbia and a Maori busin^H^H^H^H^Htribe with no respect for New Zealand’s heritage.

An article I read the other day said that now demolition has begun, the City Council is having second thoughts about allowing Ngai Tahu to demolish the last remnants of what was once an amazing building, built by a significant New Zealand architect.

Sadly, a quick look over the building’s current state of demolition shows that this new-found concern has really come too late.

Most of the roof is gone, the interior is gutted and the floors are in the process of being ripped out. I wouldn’t expect it to be standing for more than a couple of days.

I wish I’d gotten to this place back when it was still an imposing multi-winged feature on the Hilmorton campus – I think it would have been one of the few NZ location’s that are in the same league as those overseas :(

If anyone has any pictures or stories of the building before it was reduced to the administration block I’d really like to see/hear them.

EDIT : Just uploaded 2 attempts at using tone mapping on some of the photos I took of this place.. They’re okay looking except for the nasty polarization with the black & cyan that I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of. I think it may be because the underexposed shots used weren’t quite underexposed enough…

  • Dirtyfilthy (12 months ago) 
    Mint photos. Fucking gutted we didn’t go earlier.
    reply
  • Chilimissy (11 months ago) 
    wow, totally gutted from when i was there :(
    reply