Powerhouse Parramatta sits on the banks of the Parramatta River, in Western Sydney, framed by the glass towers of the city’s fast-growing second CBD. The building was designed by Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki and local architect Genton, with Arup engineers. It is a second venue for the nearly 150-year-old museum of applied arts and sciences, 30 minutes by train from its central Sydney origins.
Its two rectangular forms are strikingly wrapped in a lattice exoskeleton that expresses monumentality while offering a relatable human scale. It is a defining feature that sets Powerhouse Parramatta apart from its neighbours – it is also a key architectural response to a brief that called for a new type of museum.
Step inside the new Powerhouse Parramatta in Sydney
Placing the structure on the outside leaves the interiors free of columns, so large-span galleries can host very different kinds of programme. The lattice exoskeleton also expressly puts the effort of defying gravity on show. This is especially palpable in the elongated V forms that reach 18 metres from the ground to the first platform.
They support one of the largest galleries in Australia and a dramatic entrance and undercroft between the two building forms. With the exoskeleton’s 1,300 unique human-scale components, it feels like an apt expression of a museum whose roots lie in science and technology.
The building’s spatial layout is legible from the outside. Large black-box spaces are stacked across floors, marked by the lattice’s horizontal members. Facing the river, double-height circulation and unprogrammed, flexible space run the length of both buildings. These neutral spaces come alive with the play of shadows cast by the lattice exoskeleton. After dark, the exoskeleton is artfully backlit, adding an appealing glowing presence on the city edge.
In comparison to the open expanses of the public spaces throughout the building, the rooftop terrace with spectacular views across the city and a productive garden with enticing aromas offers a pleasingly intimate experience. Out of public view, there are dormitories hosting overnight stays for school children and residential studios for international scholars and creatives. Interior fit-outs have been realised by leading Australian designers and include new furniture commissions, as a key aspect of a museum committed to supporting design and industry.
The large exhibition spaces allow for inventive installations but inevitably require major builds. Investment has been made in the opening exhibitions, and the results are impressive. The standout is ‘Task Eternal’, which focuses on flight in the vast 18m-high gallery. Open Architecture has worked in partnership with the curatorial team to develop an exhibition that provides a spatial journey from the intimate to the epic, where visitors encounter drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, a giant F1 rocket engine, a zero-emission electric aircraft, space suits and film costumes, and a James Turrell installation reached by ascending a tower.
The ubiquitous typology of the shopping centre is explored in ‘The Mall’ through an array of materials, objects and installations staged within a two-storey structure with distinct thematic and spatial zones. A design and curatorial partnership with OMA/AMO brings together the likes of US architect Victor Gruen’s archive with Western Sydney material and community memorabilia, highlighting the role Australia played in the global model. Both these long-running shows include new local and international commissions that offer valuable critical perspectives.
Sensory immersion and reflection underpin other shows. ‘The Turning’ by Es Devlin includes poetic films and a mirror maze, invoking humanity, connection and ecology. In a First Nations-led installation, ‘Overflow’, a tidal terrain occupies an upper gallery with city views, allowing a poignant and welcome connection between content and context. The film commission is best experienced with shoes off, wading in the water, taking in the stories of care for saltwater and freshwater ecosystems by seven community organisations.
The programming pushes new bounds, and the building, with its expressive structural framework, rational planning and muted material palette, works as a refined infrastructure for it. It wants to be taken on by community and visitors, and over time, tested, allowed to get messy and occupied in unexpected ways.
