Brutalist Murray Valley Private Hospital sells for close to $7m

Scott Carbines

First published 07 February 2023, 12:30pm

The next chapter of the former Clyde Cameron College is about to be penned.

A Gough Whitlam-era regional Victorian medical facility heritage listed as an incredible example of brutalist architecture has sold for close to $7m.

Murray Valley Private Hospital was established in the late 1970s as Clyde Cameron College by the Whitlam Government as a residential training college for trade unions.

The college was commissioned and operated by the Trade Union Training Authority (TUTA) from 1977 until its closure in 1996, and is now occupied by Ramsay Health Care.

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Welcome to brutalist history.

It was controversial for its design and political alignment when it was built.

Dixon Real Estate Albury agent Andrew Dixon said Ramsay was the main of two vendors and would continue to occupy the site under its current lease for another 18 months.

“Then Ramsay will move over to the West Albury medical precinct, where they’ve got a major private hospital facility,” he said.

“The buyer hasn’t really decided what he wants to do with it (after that) … he’s a local investor and developer; he knows the building well.”

The building’s design team, Architects Group, was led by Kevin Borland with the project architect Bernard Brown.

“The building was one of the most controversial of the 1970s for both its political basis and its architecture,” its heritage listing states.

Angel of brutality.

A sprawling site.

“While it failed to win any architectural awards at the time, in 2008 the former Clyde Cameron College received the 25-Year Award for Enduring Architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Architecture awards.”

The brutalist-style off-form concrete block complex comprises a series of wings of one and two storeys linked by precast concrete pipe walkways.

The wings are laid out across the site with strong 45-degree geometry.

The interior has solid timber trusses and exposed services.

The building was designed to showcase the trades as part of the architectural aesthetic, and the individual trades were actively involved in the on-site resolution of design issues.