Powerhouse Sydney, Australia’s largest museum group, is undertaking an AUD $1.4 billion transformation, spearheaded by the development of Powerhouse Parramatta on a landmark site in Western Sydney.
Designed by Moreau Kusunoki and Genton, Powerhouse Parramatta is the largest cultural development in Australia to be created since the Sydney Opera House and is planned to open in early 2025. The museum is located in the heart of Western Sydney in Parramatta bounded by the river and home to one of the fastest growing and most diverse communities in Australia.
Powerhouse Parramatta is pioneering a new museum model that aims to redefine contemporary museum practice and culture. The building features seven large-scale exhibition spaces alongside learning and digital studios, a cinema, an 800-seat theatre, an extensive rooftop garden, restaurants and cafes. Thirty residential studios will be integrated into the museum, bringing together scientists, researchers and artists to collaborate with the Powerhouse and its communities. In addition, the Lang Walker Family Academy will include 60 bed accommodation within the museum precinct for remote students to immerse themselves in new science, technology and cultural learning experiences. A green landscaped public domain between the museum and the river will be open 24 hours a day, connecting the community with industry and learning, and supporting festival events and programmes for audiences of up to 10,000.
Powerhouse Parramatta will enable our ambition to be a leader in a radical approach to museum culture, giving voice and agency to the full range of communities that make up Sydney’s diverse population. Simultaneously a centre for production, display and learning, we will celebrate the dynamic shift in how Sydney thinks about itself, its culture and its communities. We will prioritise investment in First Nations communities promoting self-determination and shared responsibility, to engage a generation.
Lisa Havilah, Chief Executive of Powerhouse Sydney,
Powerhouse Parramatta is one of the largest and most complex architectural and structural engineering projects currently underway in Australia. The building design has been conceived by Paris-based architects Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer), working in partnership with Australian architecture practice Genton (Local Architect) and master Japanese engineer, Jun Sato, whose work on high-tensile architectural facades is legendary.
Powerhouse Sydney has its origins in the Museum of Applied Arts and Science founded in 1879 and sits at the intersection of the arts, design, science and technology. It is currently undertaking a landmark $1.4 billion infrastructure renewal program across its four sites in Sydney, spearheaded by the creation of the flagship museum, Powerhouse Parramatta; expanded research and public facilities at Powerhouse Castle Hill; the renewal of the iconic Powerhouse in Ultimo; and the ongoing operation of Sydney Observatory. The museum is custodian to over half a million objects of national and international significance and is considered one of the finest and most diverse collections in Australia. Powerhouse is also undertaking an expansive digitisation project that will provide new levels of access to the collections.
Powerhouse Parramatta is being delivered through the NSW Government’s delivery agency Infrastructure NSW with construction partner Lendlease.
