Image credit: Rory Gardiner
Powerhouse Parramatta has announced that it will open to the public on November 7, 2026, completing a major new cultural development on the banks of the Parramatta River in Western Sydney. Designed by Moreau Kusunoki as lead designer, with Australian practice Genton as local architect and engineering by Arup, the 300,000-square-foot museum cost over USD 640 million.
Image credit: Rory Gardiner
Image credit: Rory Gardiner
The scheme represents the first state cultural institution established in Western Sydney and forms part of a wider almost USD 1 billion renewal program for the Powerhouse museum group. The new building will contain seven exhibition spaces alongside retail and dining areas, a rooftop observatory, an Indigenous garden, educational facilities, and residential accommodation for visiting researchers and collaborators.
Image credit: Rory Gardiner
Image credit: Rory Gardiner
More than 3,000 objects will feature across the museum’s opening program, including 1,600 works from the Powerhouse Collection. The program will also incorporate more than 45 newly commissioned works involving contributors from 14 countries, including seven Community Commissions supporting First Nations practices.
Image credit: Powerhouse Studio
James Turrell, Shangri La (Over the Hump) 2026. “Immersive Light” Installation View. Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, 2017. Photographers Yang Jiaxi, Zhu Zhe. Courtesy of Long Museum, Shanghai
Three exhibitions have been detailed ahead of the opening. Task Eternal, designed by OPEN Architecture, will examine the history and future of flight through more than 850 objects and loans from institutions including NASA, MIT, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the British Museum. The exhibition will also include James Turrell’s immersive installation Shangri La (Over the Hump).
The Mall, designed and curated in collaboration with OMA/AMO, will explore the development and cultural influence of shopping centers through more than 560 objects and 18 new commissions. A third exhibition, The Dark, designed by Australian theater director Kip Williams and artist and designer Elizabeth Gadsby, will create an immersive, meteorite-inspired environment intended for younger visitors.
Similar articles on Archinect that may interest you…