Opening 2025

Parramatta

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Phillip Street, Parramatta NSW 2150
Time iconUnder construction
A view from the ground of an A shaped frame held up by cables. On either side of the frame are teams of construction workers on articulating boom lifts.

Powerhouse Parramatta is one of the world's most significant new museum projects.​ Community, industry and collection will intersect to create a dynamic culturally engaged program that will redefine museums. Powerhouse Parramatta is located on Dharug land, within one of Australia's fastest growing and most diverse communities.

Opening in 2025

Powerhouse Museum is recognised internationally as one of the great repositories of shared stories of innovation and achievement across the applied arts and sciences, providing a comprehensive insight into our rich and diverse country. There are more than half a million objects in the Powerhouse CollectionExternal link icon

As the first NSW State Cultural Institution to be based in Western Sydney, Powerhouse Parramatta will be a transformational cultural precinct. It will be the largest museum in NSW with over 18,000 sqm of exhibition and public space, attracting 2 million visitors a year. No museum in Australia is better placed to demonstrate the continued impact of the applied arts and sciences on our world through technology, innovation, design and engineering.

Construction

Construction of Powerhouse Parramatta. Photo: Zan Wimberley, Artistic Associate
We designed Powerhouse Parramatta to sit alongside the great cultural landmarks of the world, but it is first a meeting place and point of reference for Western Sydney.
Hiroko Kusunoki and Nicolas Moreau: Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Genton (Local Architect)

Winning Architects

A portrait of three architects dressed in black in front of a grey backdrop.
Powerhouse Parramatta architects Hiroko Kusunoki, Nicolas Moreau and Steven Toia. Photo: Daniel Boud

The architectural team of Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Genton (Local Architect) envisage Powerhouse Parramatta as a hyper-platform, a building with many functions and limitless potential. The built form will tread lightly on the site, creating a porous ground plane. The architecture will open up towards the river, providing generous public space and creating an open 24-hour precinct. A three-dimensional layer of interstitial space, known in Japan as ‘mâ’ will provide transparent connecting spaces full of natural light.

Seven large-scale presentation spaces are at the core of the Powerhouse. These immense volumes will act as continual social and cultural amplifiers. The exterior structural frame will hold these spaces, facilitating dynamic programming by providing total interior flexibility. The Powerhouse will transcend scale to exist simultaneously as both intimate and iconic.

Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Genton (Local Architect)
A fresh architectural collaboration between Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki and Sydney-based architectural practice Genton is the core creative team to forge Powerhouse Parramatta.

Moreau Kusunoki’s French-Japanese roots grant a diverse international design culture, complemented by Genton’s proven track record for successfully delivering complex projects. The team is both accomplished and dynamic, harnessing established experience and liberating emerging talent.

Moreau Kusunoki – Lead Design
Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki founded Moreau Kusunoki in Paris in 2011. Kusunoki, who earned her degree from the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, began her career in the studio of Shigeru Ban. Moreau, who trained at the Ecole Nationale d’Architecture de Belleville in Paris, worked in the studios of SANAA and Kengo Kuma. In 2008, Moreau and Kusunoki left Tokyo together, so that Moreau could open Kengo Kuma’s office in France. At the heart of Moreau Kusunoki’s work, both in France and abroad, is a series of cultural and educational projects, including the award-winning proposal for the Guggenheim Helsinki, the new Sciences Po (The Paris Institute of Political Studies) university campus in the centre of Paris, the National Lighthouse Museum in Brest, France, and the House of Cultures and Memories in Cayenne, French Guiana.

Genton – Local Architect
Steven Toia founded Genton in 2010 with a focus on delivering outstanding design and quality architectural and design work. Steven’s experience extends to design, documentation and procurement of small, large and complex projects both locally and internationally. Fellow Director Marc Debney, brings together diverse training in Architecture, Fine Arts and Law to weave design vision and project requirements to guide decisions with unwavering commitment to design. With established studios in Sydney and Melbourne they have been recognised with award-winning results across commercial, residential, infrastructure and technical projects including the design and rebuild of public buildings.

Architectural Team

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Construction of Powerhouse Parramatta. Photo: Zan Wimberley, Artistic Associate

Construction

Australia's largest cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, Powerhouse Parramatta will be the largest museum in New South Wales, Australia. Currently under construction, it is one of country’s most complex architectural and engineering projects.

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Design

Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Genton (Local Architect) were selected in 2019 following an international design competition. The design intent is a building with many functions and limitless potential. The built form is designed to tread lightly on the site, creating a porous civic place.

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Features

Seven large-scale presentation spaces are at the core of Powerhouse Parramatta. These immense volumes will act as flexible column free exhibition and program spaces. The exterior structural frame, known as the exoskeleton, will hold these spaces, facilitating dynamic programming by providing total interior flexibility.

The two museum buildings open towards the Parramatta River, providing generous public space and creating an open 24-hour precinct.

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Lang Walker Family Academy

Lang Walker Family Academy will be a world-first immersive STEM learning program at Powerhouse Parramatta; featuring overnight stays, direct connection with industry leaders, and new levels of access for regional and remote students. Lang Walker Family Academy will establish new pathways for young people into future focused STEM careers.

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Holdmark Gallery

Showcasing the Holdmark Gallery and a biennial exhibition focusing on innovation in design, engineering, and architecture.

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Vitocco Family Kitchen Program

The Vitocco Family Kitchen presenting an ongoing annual program enabling direct connection with industry leaders and cultural connections with food. It will feature learning and community led programs, cultural exchange and culinary industry events.

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Project Status

Community and Supporters

Building Parramatta

A variety of corporations, foundations, government agencies, and individuals are supporting the building of Powerhouse Parramatta.

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Connect

Opportunities

Opportunities spanning residencies, fellowships, design accelerators and research are offered across all our sites.

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Community

We support and invest in the development of new work across the applied arts and sciences.

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Object No. 85/1285-1037
A Silver Strand, Parramatta River, Sydney' glass plate negative by Henry King