**2016 UPDATE: The site of the former Larundel Mental Asylum has been redeveloped into a residential community. Most buildings pictured in this article have now been demolished and the area is no longer suitable for exploring. **
The crumbling buildings of Larundel have had many uses in their life, including as housing commission and an women's air force training depot. However, Larundel is best known for being a former mental asylum. For almost fifteen years the corridors have been empty, save for the adventuring of urban explorers.
Larundel is a former psychiatric hospital which has fallen into a state of disrepair.
The site had been left idle since the closure of the psychiatric hospital in 1999. Now undergoing redevelopment into a residential compound, the derelict buildings shown here are being replaced with neat town houses. When I visited in 2013, the only sign of construction having taken place is the neat new driveway and parking spots, with the buildings left untouched; now, new life has been breathed into the former dilapidated site with building of the new residential compound underway.
The natural deterioration of the buildings has been hastened by vandalism. The interiors are intricately decorated with graffiti tags, on almost every surface. Anything capable of being destroyed has been, with electrical cables having been ripped out of the walls and rooms that look like they may have once been kitchens completely trashed.
Larundel has been trashed in every way possible.
Jim Beam seems to be the beverage of choice for explorers, with cans littered around the more accessible areas. Some rooms have flies swirling around and dirty rags on the floor- makes you wonder what's in there.
Despite the state of disrepair, the structure seemed stable enough to walk around. Even the second storey floors did not feel like they were going to collapse anytime soon. Only one of the buildings, with a gaping hole in the floor, did not seem safe to enter. With parts of the hole appearing cleanly cut, perhaps it is more of a deterrant than a sign that the floor is rotting.
The destroyed floor of one of the Larundel buildings.
The buildings are lit by natural light from the broken windows, but it's still dark enough inside to be creepy. It may seem pleasantly bright in the photos, but that's a reflection of my inability to use the right camera settings rather than how it actually looked.
It really was scary, promise.
One of the smaller buildings has had its roof removed. Being so open and full of light, it is not scary like the other buildings. The thriving weeds growing in every possible crack of the outdoor building make exploration difficult. The corridor is rendered inaccessible by trees and towering grass.
Larundel's outdoor building.
Trees blocking the main corridor of Larundel's outdoor building.
Larundel is a favourite among ghost hunters, with the former asylum said to be haunted. While the state of the place was certainly creepy, I can report no paranormal happenings other than the appearance of a stray black cat.
There didn't seem to be any ghosts, but I still wouldn't want to be here at night.
If you believe some of the stories about the place, visiting seems like a real-life version of horror movie
Death Tunnel. In truth, Larundel is said to have been a lovingly managed psychiatric hospital rather than a state-owned house of horrors.
Note that trespassing is illegal, and there is not much to see with the construction of the new residential development.
Apparently, you're not meant to enter Larundel.
