Powerhouse Parramatta, the largest cultural infrastructure project in Australia since the Sydney Opera House, will open in late 2026.
The future-focused museum will be a major new landmark for Australia, and a global, cultural destination for Western Sydney. At 30,000 sqm, it was designed by Franco-Japanese architects Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Australian architecture firm Genton (Local Architect).
The transformational project is the first state cultural institution to be built in Western Sydney – one of Australia’s fastest-growing and most diverse regions. Construction began more than four years ago, with the main building now complete.
Interior exhibition fit-outs are currently underway across the site. Work is also underway on five major international exhibitions, alongside the development of innovative learning, industry and community programmes.
Powerhouse Parramatta features one of the largest column-free exhibition spaces in Australia. The 18-metre high space spanning more than 2,000 sqm will present Task Eternal, an expansive, immersive exhibition exploring humanity’s enduring quest to defy gravity, take flight, and journey into space. Each exhibition space is designed for a dynamic, changing programme. . . While expanding public access to the Powerhouse Collection of more than 500,000 objects.
The museum will also feature 30 residential studios, bringing together scientists, researchers and artists from Australia and the world, to collaborate with Powerhouse on research and programmes.
A rooftop terrace with Parramatta and Sydney CBD views will feature a productive garden with Indigenous plant species, alongside an observatory with telescopes beneath a retractable roof.
Powerhouse Parramatta will open with net-zero emissions from day one of operations. It’s the first public building in Australia, and the first project in Western Sydney, to be assessed as a 6-star designed project under the Green Building Council of Australia’s new Green Star Buildings assessment tool.
“Powerhouse Parramatta is a new generation museum, conceived to redefine the role of cultural institutions in contemporary life,” Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah says.
“Through its infrastructure and programmes, Powerhouse will create a dynamic ecology that will bring together industry and community, present collections, histories, and ideas in new ways. It 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.”
Powerhouse Parramatta is due to open in late 2026.
