Adelaide House in Alice Springs.

Todd Mall and Adelaide House - Alice Springs visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Todd Mall and Adelaide House' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Northern Territory.

Designed by Rev. John Flynn, Adelaide House was completed in 1926.

The design of the building shows ingenuity and a good knowledge of local conditions. Wide surrounding verandas provide shade, while the raised roof over the central area allows hot air from the building to escape. This was replaced by cool air drawn from the cellar which passed along a stone passageway hung with wet hessian to cool the air temperature. This cool air was piped through a series of ducted walls and vents and into the main building. The 46cm (18 inch) thick walls restricted heating and cooling of the building to a minimum in the extremes of Central Australian temperatures.

Until 1939 it remained the only hospital in Central Australia when the Alice Springs Government Hospital was completed. Now under the protection of the National Trust, Adelaide House is one of Alice Springs oldest remaining buildings.

A radio room at the back of the building is where the first test radio transmission was received from Hermannsburg by Maurie Fuss in November, 1926, when Flynn and Traeger were experimenting with radio for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The museum has some fine displays including the story of the Australian Inland Mission, early journals, maps and publications of the Reverend John Flynn, radio equipment built by Traeger, diagrams of the building and its unique concept, and an extensive collection of historic photographs.

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 10am to 4pm
Sat 10am to noon (March to November)

Address:
Todd Mall
Alice Springs, NT
ph: (08) 8952 1856