Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel: Huts 201, 204 and 210

Item details


Name of item:	Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel: Huts 201, 204 and 210
Other name/s:	Balgownie Migrant Workers' Hostel; Fairy Meadow Migrant Hostel; University of Wollongong Campus East; Science Centre; Nissen & Quonset Huts Wollongong
Type of item:	Complex / Group
Group/Collection:	Transient Accommodation
Category:	Migrant Hostel
Location:	Lat: -34.3973851551 Long: 150.8996264640
Primary address:	Squires Way, Fairy Meadow, NSW 2519
Local govt. area:	Wollongong City
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Illawarra

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
PART LOT	200		DP	1127540
LOT	2		DP	1172135

Boundary:

Northern boundary is 1 metre north of Building 210, western boundary is 1 metre west of Building 204, eastern boundary is 3 metres west of Building 201 and southern boundary is edge of access road.

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Squires Way	Fairy Meadow	Wollongong City			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The Nissen hut (building 204) and the two Quonset huts (buildings 201 and 210) have historical significance as physical evidence of the Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel that was constructed at Fairy Meadow in 1950 and 1951 (and in use until 1982) as part of an Australia-wide post-World War II immigration program. This immigration program had wide ranging impacts upon the development and growth of Wollongong. The two Nissen huts and one Quonset are locally rare, as other buildings of the period have not survived at the other Wollongong migrant hostel sites set up at that time (in Unanderra and Berkeley). They are also rare on a Statewide basis as surviving Nissen and Quonset huts adapted for use at a former New South Wales migrant hostel site. These structures have an historical association with author Mary Rose Liverani and with the community of migrants who started their Australian life at the hostel before moving on to become influential in the economic and cultural life of Wollongong. The buildings have some technical significance relating to the adaptation of Nissen and Quonset huts which have been modified for use at a migrant hostel location. The buildings and their location have social significance due to the community of past residents and their descendants who have strong emotional ties to the site and still live in the Wollongong district.
	Date significance updated: 25 Oct 06
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Unknown (Original Nissen Hut designed by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Norman Nissen)
Builder/Maker:	Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd
Construction years:	1950-1951
Physical description:	Nissen Huts and Quonset Huts Building 201 - Former Migrant Hostel Kitchen/Dining Room, then a university science centre and currently conserved, refurbished and used as a child care facility. The building has three parts: a single storey weatherboard clad kitchen area with clerestory ventilation; a 100ft. x 41ft. Quonset hut with curved corrugated steel roof/walls; a gable roofed corrugated steel clad extension Building 204 - Former Migrant hostel Laundry Exchange, next the university library/ bookstore and now conserved and ready for occupation by unspecified university services. The building has two parts. The western section is a 25 ft x 43 ft Nissen hut. The eastern section c.1980 concrete block and metal deck structure. Building 210 - Former Migrant Hostel staff residence, now conserved, refurbished and awaiting occupation by unspecified university services. This is a 21ft. x 53 ft. Quonset hut.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The condition of the buildings is excellent, following thorough conservation carried out in 2004/5. The larger Quonset hut (building 201) is in use as a childcare facility. Buildings 204 and 210 are ready for occupation by University of Wollongong services. Buildings 204 and 210 have been moved from their former flood-prone location to a raised berm near building 201. Improved site drainage protects building 201 from all but one-in-one-hundred-year flooding. There is little archaeological potential however there is substantial documentary evidence available, and former residents of the hostel still around to be able to tell the story of the site without the need for archaeological work.
	Date condition updated:14 Sep 06
Modifications and dates:	Since closure of the Hostel, in 1982, the buildings had been adapted, some repeatedly, for use by the University of Wollongong. All three buildings were conseverd in 2005. The larger Quonset hut (building 201) is in use as a childcare facility. Buildings 204 and 210 are ready for occupation by University of Wollongong services. In 2005, buildings 204 and 210 were moved from their former flood-prone location to a raised berm immediately to the west of building 201. The berm also protects building 210 from flooding on its western side while improved site drainage to the north and east protects it from all but one-in-one-hundred-year flooding.


Current use:	Child care centre
Former use:	Aboriginal land, migrant hostel

History

Historical notes:

Wollongong / the Illawarra:
Before European settlement in the Illawarra, the region was home to the local Wodi Wodi Aboriginal people of the Dharawal nation (NPWS, 2005). This Aboriginal community had a well-developed and complex society, and physical and cultural evidence of this remains today in the forms of burials, middens and other sites. The Aboriginal history has also been preserved through traditional knowledge and dreaming stories which have been passed down through the generations (WCC, c2012). Traditional stories tell of their arrival at the mouth of Lake Illawarra in canoes when the Ancestors were animals. They brought the Dharawal or Cabbage tree palm (Livistona australis) with them and are named for this sacred tree (NPWS, 2005).

Aboriginal communities first encountered Europeans in 1796.

Red cedar (Toona ciliata) timber-getters operated in Illawarra escarpment (rain)forests as the first 'settler' industry in the area from the 1810s.

Dr Charles Throsby used the coastal Illawarra grasslands as cattle fodder in 1815 opening the area to European settlement. He focussed his herd behind the fresh water lagoon then situated at the junction of the current day Harbour and Smith Streets where he built a stockman's hut and cattle yards (DeTom Design, 2011, 17-18) and this was a meeting point for the first Illawarra land grantees in 1816 (WCC, c.2012).

The first settlement in the area now known as Wollongong was by Charles Throsby Smith, nephew of Throsby. He was one of the first to receive a land grant in the district and in 1822 was the first to settle on his 300 acre parcel. Smith's barn, located near Wollongong harbour, became the first school house in 1826 and then church building in 1828.

A military presence was established in the area now known as Port Kembla in 1826. They were relocated to the area now known as Wollongong in 1830. They were replaced by a local magistrate in 1833. This activity was focussed around the harbour. In 1833 the area's first school was established (ibid, 2011, 17-18).

In 1834 land owner Charles Throsby Smith (nephew of Dr. Charles Throsby)'s land was nominated as the site for the township to be known as Wollongong (ibid, 2011, 17-18).

In 1834 Surveyor General Major Thomas Mitchell surveyed the town with the centrepiece of land devoted to the Church of England. As there was no crown land, Thosby-Smith sold his land to the Government and it was transferred to the church. The surveyed town was bounded by streets to be known as Harbour, Keira, Smith and Crown Streets (ibid, 2011, 18). The original township was bounded by Crown, Keira, Smith and Harbour Streets which remain major streets in Wollongong today (WCC, c2012).

The Illawarra District Council was formed in 1843. In 1859, two municipal councils were formed: Municipality of Wollongong which was proclaimed on 22 February, and Central Illawarra Municipality which was formed on 19 August 1859 (this took in the area from Unanderra to Macquarie Rivulet). North Illawarra Municipality was formed on 26 October 1868 and included the area from Fairy Creek to Bellambi. In 1947 The City of Greater Wollongong was formed by the amalgamation of the City of Wollongong, the Shires of Bulli and Central Illawarra and the Municipality of North Illawarra, under the Local Government Act, 1919 in the NSW Government Gazette 104 of 12 September 1947.

1880s expansion and the Illawarra Railway Line:
Wollongong expanded in the 1880s and the railway which finally linked the area to Sydney, encouraged movement away from Mitchell's plan. The relative isolation of the Illawarra ended in 1888 when the railway was finally introduced to link the area to Sydney. The town was transformed from a focus on the wharves to one on the railway and began to expand away from St.Michael's central position. The rail allowed the area to ship milk, coal and coke to Sydney city, expanding Wollongong city's potential enormously. By the turn of the century a smelting works and number of coke oven batteries were opened and the town's population rose from 1635 in 1881 to 3545 in 1901 (an average growth rate of 3.9%)(McDonald, 1989, in Davies, 2003, 14).

Balgownie Migrant Hostel:
The buildings numbered 201, 204, and 210 are remnants of the Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel. The Hostel was constructed in late 1950 and 1951 as a migrant workers hostel to meet the demand for housing created by a Commonwealth government policy for increased immigration. At the same time around the rest of the state there were numerous other hostels built to meet the demands brought about by the immigration policy.

The Balgownie Migrant Hostel was built by Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd, the contract being let in October 1950 and occupied in December 1951.

The first Nissen Hut was designed by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel Peter Norman Nissen in 1916. In WWII the Nissen Hut design was modified and extensively used in military activities. The British Nissen Hut was copied by Americans in the Quonset hut and evolved to become quite different by the end of WWII.

The buildings numbered 201, 204 and 210 were part of a large complex of huts divided into blocks around common dining room and laundry buildings.

The hostel was later renamed Fairy Meadow Migrant Hostel and continued operation until 1982.

The property was purchased by the University of Wollongong for student accommodation in June 1987. About 1989 the building known as 201 a former dining hall was converted for use as the Science Centre.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Cultural - Coasts and coastal features supporting human activities-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent	Aboriginal cultures and interactions with other cultures-Activities associated with maintaining, developing, experiencing and remembering Aboriginal cultural identities and practices, past and present.	Illawarra nation - evidence of occupation-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent	Migration-Activities and processes associated with the resettling of people from one place to another (international, interstate, intrastate) and the impacts of such movements	Developing Italian settlements-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes used for self reliant recreation-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Gardens celebrating multiculturalism-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of institutions - productive and ornamental-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes and parklands of distinctive styles-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Adapted heritage building or structure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Accommodating migrants in hostels and camps-
6. Educating-Educating	Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally.	Tertiary education-
6. Educating-Educating	Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally.	University campus-
6. Educating-Educating	Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally.	Educating people in regional locations-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	State government-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Federal Government-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - administration of land-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Suburban Consolidation-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - providing low-cost housing, flats etc-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - providing community facilities-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - public land administration-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - conserving cultural and natural heritage-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - building and operating public infrastructure-
7. Governing-Governing	Welfare-Activities and process associated with the provision of social services by the state or philanthropic organisations	Providing community halls and services-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	These buildings are the only physical evidence on site of the former Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel as built in 1951. The pattern of migration after WWII is clearly evidenced by these buildings. The history of the development of Australia and particularly Wollongong was heavily influenced by migration. The evidence of migration at this period is rare. Nissen and Quonset huts were commonly used at hostel sites throughout NSW however there are very few examples surviving today.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The subject site has been the subject of a number of works of literature. Notably 'the Winter Sparrows' by Mary Rose Liverani who documents her own experiences of growing up at the hostel. There is a significant community surviving today who have very strong connection with the former hostel.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The Nissen and Quonset huts have some technical interest as examples of World War ii period prefabricated buildings which have been adapted for migrant hostel use. These buildings are the only surviving landmarks of the former Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The Wollongong community has a large number of people who were post-war migrants or are descended from post war migrants. This community has demonstrated esteem for these buildings through groups such as the Migration Heritage Project.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The Nissen and Quonset huts are good examples of prefabricated post World War II buildings which have been adapted for uses such as accommodation, laundry, dining and administration at a migrant hostel.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The buildings are the only surviving evidence of a migrant hostel in the local area. They are also rare at a state level as only known surviving Nissen and Quonset huts at a migrant hostel site.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Buildings 201, 204 and 210 are relatively intact examples of Nissen and Quonset huts previously used as a migrant hostel. They exemplify the era of Government sponsored post-war migration to Australia and the provisions for implementation of that policy. As landmarks these structures are held in high esteem by the community, particularly by the descendants of the migrants themselves, many of whom continue to live in the area.
Integrity/Intactness:	The huts are reasonably intact
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		01767	28 Aug 09	117	4899

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners	2002	Campus East Site, University of Wollongong, Nissen Huts Assessment of Significance
Written	National Parks and Wildlife Service	2005	Aboriginal Illawarra
Written	Paul Davies P/L	2003	Conservation Management Plan, St Michael's Cathedral Wollongong
Written	Wollongong City Council (in association with Wollongong Heritage Committee)	2012	Wollongong City Centre Heritage Trail

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5055121
File number:	EF10/19228; H03/00218

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