Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel

Balgownie Migrant Workers Hostel is a heritage-listed former migrant hostel at Squires Way, Fairy Meadow, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1950 to 1951 by Concrete Constructions Pty Ltd. The surviving remnants of the hostel are Huts 201, 204 and 210. It is also known as the Fairy Meadow Migrant Hostel. The site is now used for student accommodation as part of the University of Wollongong's Campus East. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 28 August 2009. 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 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. The first Nissen Hut was designed by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel Peter Norman Nissen in 1916. In World War II 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 are remnants of the hostel completed in 1951. They were part of a large complex of huts divided into blocks around common dining room and laundry buildings. Building 201 Former Migrant Hostel Kitchen/Dining Room, then a university science centre and currently conserved, refurbished and used as a child care facility.