The construction of the giant exoskeleton structure for Powerhouse Sydney’s new landmark museum development, named Powerhouse Parramatta, is currently underway on site.

Designed by Franco-Japanese architects Moreau Kusunoki, lead designer of the project, and Australian architects Genton, local architect of the project, and constructed by Lendlease, Powerhouse Parramatta is set to become "Australia’s largest cultural infrastructure development since the Sydney Opera House and will open in 2025." 

The 32,579-square-metre museum, located in the heart of Western Sydney in Parramatta, is bounded by the river and home to one of the fastest growing and most diverse communities in Australia. 

The museum is dubbed as "a pioneering a new museum model", aiming to redefine contemporary museum practice and culture. The exhibitions and public spaces will cover a total of 8,572-square-metre area. 

Powerhouse Parramatta will open to the public in 2025. 

The AUD$915-million project is one of the world’s most significant new museum developments and signifies the first state cultural institution built within Sydney’s most dynamic and culturally diverse region, Western Sydney.

The structure of Powerhouse Parramatta is expressed in three levels of scale and complexity: the white steel latticing that surrounds the building forms both the building’s façade and, crucially, its supporting structure – its exoskeleton. 

"The lattice design that we refer to as the exoskeleton emerged out of our discussions with the distinguished Tokyo University Professor of Engineering, Jun Sato," said Moreau Kusunoki. 

"The geometry of this lattice structure greatly reduces the amount of material needed to support the building’s physical load, as well as lightening the material presence of the steel." 

"The design highlights the porous relationship with the surrounding neighbourhood. It also serves as a means of keeping the building’s elements at a human scale," Kusunoki added.

"The building was conceived as a series of hyper platforms; column-free spaces with flexibility and potential. The exoskeleton as a structural system serves the essential requirement of achieving these uninterrupted spaces," said Genton Principal Steven Toia. 

"Whilst the exoskeleton handles substantial structural loads to support the hyper platforms, the building appears light, transcending scale. Its minimal structural footprint touches the ground lightly and respectfully, allowing space for an extensive green public domain," Toia added.

Powerhouse Parramatta. Photo © Zan Wimberley. Courtesy of Powerhouse. A view from construction in October 2023

Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said that "architecturally, Powerhouse Parramatta will be one of the great cultural and public buildings of the world."

"It is a project that is redefining and rethinking what museums can and should be for their communities and it’s the first time that a major cultural institution will be located within these diverse and growing communities," Havilah continued. 

"For me, the most important part of this project is the generational impact of a piece of incredible public architecture igniting the ambition of a community, of a region, of a city, and I’m excited about what precedent it will set at a national and international level," Havilah added.

Read the full detailed coverage of Powerhouse Parramatta on the World Architecture Community. 

All renderings © Moreau Kusunoki and Genton unless otherwise stated. 

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cultural building museum Powerhouse Parramatta Sydney