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As Sydney’s culture fiends will be well aware, the Harbour City is gaining not one, but two new (and new-ish) Powerhouse Museums – with the original heritage-listed Ultimo site undergoing a huge $300-million makeover, and a brand new site in Parramatta coming to life in Sydney’s second CBD.
Construction on Powerhouse Parramatta – the biggest museum in NSW history, and the region’s first “state cultural institution”– is now 95 per cent finished, with doors set to open later this year. Billed as a landmark project for the west, plans for the new Powerhouse sound pretty impressive: futuristic exhibition rooms and genuinely socially-enriching public spaces spread across 18,000 sustainably designed square metres.
Let’s start at the top – literally. A sprawling rooftop terrace with near-360-degree views across Parramatta will crown the shorter of the two connected buildings. Up there, you’ll find a garden planted with Indigenous species, which will supply the adjacent Vitocco Kitchen – a 200-seat production kitchen designed for hands-on learning and events. The terrace will also house a greenhouse, water feature and a dedicated pavilion space for talks, workshops and other community-facing events. Through a new (v impactful) partnership with Melbourne-born non-profit the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, the Powerhouse will deliver food and sustainability education for young Sydneysiders through the Lang Walker Family Academy. More than 10,000 NSW students each year are expected to roll up their sleeves and get hands-on experience in agricultural science, cooking and environmental awareness. And because this is no ordinary rooftop, there will also be an observatory – complete with mounted telescopes and a retractable roof, set to host astronomy programs that connect visitors with leading Australian and international scientists. Beyond the rooftop, the site will offer almost 12,000 square metres of public space, including a sprawling riverside green square.
Sustainability credentials? Tick, tick, tick. Powerhouse Parramatta will be the first public building in Australia to be assessed as a 6 Star Designed project under the Green Building Council of Australia’s new Green Star Buildings rating. It will operate on 100 per cent renewable electricity, be fully electric and is aiming to be climate positive.
Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper called it a “game changer” that will help drive the local economy and attract millions of visitors each year. And with internal spaces now complete and fit-outs underway, that game-changing moment is just months away.
You can find out more about the new museum over here.
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