The long-mooted Powerhouse Parramatta development has been approved by the NSW government and construction will kick off in the coming weeks.
Designed by Moreau Kusunoki and Genton, who won a design competition for the project in 2019, the museum will include more than 18,000 square metres of exhibition and public spaces. It will be the first complex to be classified as a NSW cultural institution to be located in Western Sydney, and the state government expects it to attract 2 million visitors each year.
“Powerhouse Parramatta is the largest cultural investment since the Sydney Opera House and planning approval marks a transformative cultural moment for the communities of Greater Sydney and NSW,” said Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah.
“We are excited to be embarking on building an internationally significant museum that will connect young people and communities with our Collections and tell stories of ingenuity and innovation.”
Moreau Kusunoki and Genton’s design consists of structural steel lattices that will minimize the building’s weight and carbon footprint. The lattices will transition to structural timber at the top of the building, “giving the impression that the building is dissolving into the sky.”
Powerhouse Parramatta by Moreau Kusunoki and Genton.
The development of a new Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta has been plagued with controversy since the NSW government first announced it would sell the existing Powerhouse site at Ultimo in order to fund its relocation to western Sydney. But in July 2020, the government backflipped, deciding to keep and renovate the Ultimo building instead of selling it to provate developers, with the Parramatta museum to be built as a complementary new site.
The proposed site for the new museum in Parramatta also came in for criticism, competition design brief necessitated the demolition of the Victorian Italianate villa, Willow Grove, and a complete row of seven terrace houses built from 1881, St George’s Terrace. The NSW branch of the construction union, CFMEU, placed a green ban on the site in 2020, in support of the community campaign to save the buildings.
In response to public pressure, the location and design of the museum was tweaked to retain St George’s Terrace and it was decided that Willow Grove would be dismantled and rebuilt at a new location within Parramatta North.
Powerhouse board of trustees president Peter Collins said the museum would be working closely with Infrastructure NSW through the construction phase. “Powerhouse Parramatta will be a ground-breaking contemporary museum that will set a new benchmark in how museums engage and reflect their communities,” he said.
“Powerhouse Parramatta will be our flagship museum and will sit alongside Ultimo, Castle Hill and Sydney Observatory to provide extraordinary cultural benefits for our communities – Australia’s very own Smithsonian for our globally renowned Collection.”
