Urrbrae House Refrigerator and Cold Rooms

Urrbrae House, now part of the University of Adelaide, was the family home of significant South Australian pastoralist Peter Waite.

The original Urrbrae property was developed in 1839 with a single-story house constructed in 1844. Peter Waite purchased the property in 1874 and fifteen years after the purchase Waite decided to rebuild the house and by 1889 a two-story mansion had been constructed.

The new home reflected Waite’s interest in innovation. The house included a tiled roof, and a 32V DC lighting system supplied by a bank of batteries possibly including a portable steam engine.

Consistent with these innovations is the installation of a refrigeration plant and cold rooms. The refrigeration plant was installed in 1895 by Wildridge & Sinclair of Sydney (1890-1989).

The refrigeration system utilises a vertical double-acting ammonia compressor as developed and patented by Dr Carl Linde in Germany in 1873. The system was manufactured by the Linde British Refrigeration Company of London. The system was powered by the 32V DC system. A fan discharges the cooled air into a wooden duct to three wood-lined and charcoal insulated cold-rooms.

The installation of the refrigeration system in Urrbrae House is the first domestic refrigeration plant in Australia.

Urrbrae House refrigeration plant

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Engineering Heritage Recognition Program

Marker Type	Heritage Engineering Marker (HEM)
Award Date	17 April 1996
Heritage Significance	This refrigeration plant and cold rooms is the earliest example of domestic refrigeration in Australia. It was installed in 1895 by Wildridge & Sinclair of Sydney (1890-1989) for the pastoralist Peter Waite (1834-1922). It utilises a vertical double-acting ammonia compressor designed in Germany in 1876 by Prof. Carl Linde (1842-1934) and built by Linde British Refrigeration Company. This was the first commercially viable ammonia compressor design and was produced in large numbers.
Nomination Document	Available here.
Ceremony Booklet Ceremony Report	Available here.
Plaque/Interpretation Panel	Not Installed.