Powerhouse Parramatta
Powerhouse Parramatta is one of the world’s most significant new cultural projects. Located on the banks of the Parramatta River, the future-focused museum is a major new landmark for Australia and a global cultural destination for Western Sydney.
The museum is the largest cultural infrastructure project in Australia since the Sydney Opera House, at 30,000 sqm designed by Franco-Japanese architects Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Australian architecture firm Genton (Local Architect).
The transformational project is the first state cultural institution to be built in Western Sydney, one of Australia’s fastest growing and most diverse regions. Construction began over four years ago and the main building by delivery partner Lendlease is now complete, with interior exhibition fit outs underway across the site and final works continuing on the public domain.
In preparation for its opening later this year, work is underway on the installation of five major international exhibitions alongside the development of innovative learning, industry and community programs, pioneering a new museum model that will redefine contemporary museum practice and culture.
Powerhouse Parramatta features one of the largest column-free exhibition spaces in Australia, with an 18-metre height and spanning more than 2000 square metres. This landmark space will present Task Eternal, an expansive and immersive exhibition exploring humanity’s enduring quest to defy gravity, take flight and journey into space. Each exhibition space is designed for a dynamic, changing program while significantly expanding public access to the Powerhouse Collection of more than 500,000 objects.
Powerhouse Parramatta will serve as a dynamic hub for learning and engagement with the Lang Walker Family Academy, offering immersive education experiences, including overnight residencies for 10,000 secondary students from across regional New South Wales and Western Sydney to stay at the museum each year.
The museum will feature 30 residential studios, bringing together scientists, researchers and artists from Australia and around the world to collaborate with Powerhouse on research and programs. Alongside this, the 200-seat Vitocco Kitchen will embed the science and technology of food into the museum while connecting audiences with the culture and histories of chefs and producers.
A rooftop terrace, with expansive views across Parramatta to the Sydney CBD, features a productive garden with Indigenous plant species, alongside an observatory with telescopes beneath a retractable roof, a greenhouse and the ING Pavilion, which will host talks, workshops and public programs.
Opening with net-zero emissions from day one of operation, the museum is the first public building in Australia and the first project in Western Sydney to be assessed as a 6 Star Designed project under the Green Building Council of Australia’s new Green Star Buildings assessment tool. It embeds sustainability across its design, operations, and programming - from water harvesting and renewable energy, zero-waste exhibition practices to a productive landscape and Caring for Country principles developed in collaboration with the First Nations communities of Sydney.
CREDITS
Genton – Local Architect
Moreau Kusunoki – Local Architect
A.G. Coombs - Mechanical
Arup Building Services
Audio Systems Logic - Audio visual
Fredon Industries - Electrical
Jun Sato - Exoskeleton concept design
Lehr Consultants International - ESD, Greenstar and MEP
L’Observatoire International - Architectural lighting
McGregor Coxall - Landscape
Morris Goding Access Consulting - Universal design and accessibility
Planet Plumbing Group - Hydraulic
Prosys Services - Security
Pulse White Noise Acoustics - Acoustics
Stantec - Traffic
Steve Watson & Partners - BCA
Ultrasafe Fire Protection Services - Fire
