Z Ward: Behind the Walls

For almost 90 years Glenside’s Z Ward was home to South Australia’s “criminally insane”, patients who sat on the overlapping edges of criminality and mental illness.

Completed in 1885, Z Ward was a significant architectural statement that can still be appreciated today. Designed by EJ Woods, the prominent South Australian designer and one-time Architect-in-Chief who helmed St. Peter’s Cathedral, the State Library of South Australia’s Mortlock Wing and Parliament House, its high ceilings, magnificent windows and advanced ventilation system represents what was, for its time, an innovative attempt at providing a humane solution for patients. It’s also home to a rare, complete example of a ‘Ha Ha Wall’, a deceptive piece of design that provided security to the building while softening the prison-like image that high walls would have conveyed.

Officially decommissioned in 1973, the site was lost to the public for years as it sat unoccupied save for core samples and file storage for the Department of Mining.

Join them in exploring and preserving this unique treasure with their regular guided tours, or one of the many other events and experiences that showcase the building in interesting new lights.