{"id":648434,"date":"2026-05-04T06:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/648434\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T06:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:05:15","slug":"powerhouse-parramatta-set-to-open-late-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/648434\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerhouse Parramatta set to open late 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new Powerhouse Parramatta, purportedly Australia\u2019s largest cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, is set to open late 2026, with construction of the $915 million project now complete and fitout of the exhibition spaces currently underway.<\/p>\n

The design of the 30,000-square-metre museum has been led by Franco-Japanese architecture practice Moreau Kusunoki and executed by local firm Genton. In late 2019, the pair won an international competition<\/a> for the building, beating submissions<\/a> from UK firm AL_A and Australian practice Architectus, Brazil-based firm Bernardes Architecture and Sydney practice Scale Architecture, local architects Chrofi and Reko Rennie, and US firm Steven Holl Architects and Brisbane practice Conrad Gargett.<\/p>\n

\"Powerhouse<\/p>\n

View gallery<\/p>\n

Moreau Kusunoki and Genton\u2019s design is distinguished by a latticed external structure. Inside, the building features an 18-metre-high, 2,000-square metre, free-spanning exhibition space \u2013 one of the largest in Australia. This space will accommodate the museum\u2019s first exhibition on outer space exploration, Task Eternal, when it opens this year. A further six exhibition spaces will be accommodated inside the museum.<\/p>\n

In addition to its role as a home for the Powerhouse Collection\u2019s 500,000 objects, the building will serve as a hub for learning and engagement, offering overnight residences for 10,000 secondary school students from across regional New South Wales and Western Sydney to stay each year.<\/p>\n

It will also feature 30 residential studios for collaborating scientists, researchers and artists from Australia and abroad, and a 200-seat kitchen intended to \u201cembed the science and technology of food into the museum,\u201d a media communique from Powerhouse notes.<\/p>\n

On the rooftop, the building\u2019s open terrace will house an observatory with a retractable roof, a productive garden with Indigenous plants, a greenhouse and an expanded pavilion<\/a> for hosting public events.<\/p>\n

\"Moreau<\/p>\n

View gallery<\/p>\n

Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah said the building is \u201ca new-generation museum, conceived to redefine the role of cultural institutions in contemporary life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough its infrastructure and programs, Powerhouse will create a dynamic ecology that will bring together industry and community, present collections, histories, and ideas in new ways,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will be a museum embedded with innate flexibility, with the ability to continuously evolve, changing with the world to ensure that it remains relevant and impactful for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"According<\/p>\n

View gallery<\/p>\n

According to Powerhouse, the museum has achieved a 6-Star Green Star rating for its design \u2013 the first public building in Australia to do so \u2013 and will open with net-zero emissions. Sustainability has been embedded across its \u201cdesign, operations and programming \u2013 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,\u201d a communique from Powerhouse notes.<\/p>\n

The building has been delivered by Lendlease through a combination of state government funding and public donations. It is part of a broader $1.3 billion infrastructure renewal program involving expanded research and public facilities at Powerhouse Castle Hill, the renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo and the restoration of Sydney Observatory.<\/p>\n

\"Inside,<\/p>\n

View gallery<\/p>\n

Powerhouse trust president David Borger said, \u201cThe completion of Powerhouse Parramatta is a landmark moment for Western Sydney and a transformative investment in NSW\u2019s future. Its construction completion signals not only the delivery of a world-class cultural institution but a major driver of jobs, opportunity and cultural participation for one of the fastest-growing regions in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new Powerhouse Parramatta, purportedly Australia\u2019s largest cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, is set to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-648434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}