Powerhouse Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales

Powerhouse Parramatta in Sydney

post updated 2 June 2026

Powerhouse Parramatta Designers Commission News

Powerhouse has commissioned more than 50 leading designers from across Australia to shape the spaces and experiences of the new museum. The first details of this unprecedented generational showcase of Australian design and innovation have been announced today, a significant moment as Powerhouse Parramatta prepares to open in late 2026.

Designed by Franco-Japanese architects Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Australian architecture firm Genton (Local Architect), Powerhouse Parramatta is the largest cultural infrastructure project in Australia since the Sydney Opera House and represents Western Sydney’s first state cultural institution.

Australian architects, landscape and interior designers and design leaders across disciplines have contributed to this once-in-a-generation project, from the fabric of the building to its public and exhibition spaces, restaurant and retail. The designers and studios announced today include Adam Goodrum, Annie Paxton Studio, Bonhula Yunupingu, Chunk Design, Dale Hardiman, Damien Wright, denHolm, Derlot, Design By Them, Dowel Jones, Eatscape, Electrolight, Eveleigh Works, FEARON, Fiona Lynch, George Livissianis, Grazia & Co, Jonathan West, Ka-Ra Design, Laker Studio, Maiden, Maryam Moghdam, Olivia Bossy, Studio Henry Wilson, Studio Ongarato, Tait Enterprise, Tantri Mustika, Tom Fereday, Tyrrell Studio, Worktones and YSG Studio.

Photos: Courtesy of Powerhouse Studio

Across the public domain, multidisciplinary Australian firm Tyrrell Studio has designed a landscape connecting Powerhouse Parramatta to the Parramatta River. With cultural guidance from esteemed curator from the Kalari Clan of Wiradjuri nation Emily McDaniel and Powerhouse Director First Nations Beau James, and in consultation with Baramadagal elders and Dharug community representatives, the design explores and surfaces the true nature of the river, weaving stones, pools of rainwater and vegetation to express the unseen ephemerality of the river system.

Master blacksmith and founder of Eveleigh Works, Matt Mewburn, will create a custom-built, multipurpose fire cooking area for the museum’s rooftop terrace, which will also feature a productive garden with Indigenous plant species, designed by McGregor Coxall, alongside an observatory with telescopes, a greenhouse and the ING Pavillion, which will host talks, workshops and public programmes.

Melbourne based studio Fiona Lynch has designed an immersive vision for the overnight accommodation spaces of the Lang Walker Family Academy, providing the opportunity for 10,000 secondary students from across regional New South Wales and Western Sydney to stay at the museum each year. Design and fabrication company FEARON have produced custom bunk beds and a series of tables. denHolm have fabricated stools and tabletops for the Academy, responding directly to the architectural and colour language of the interiors.

Powerhouse Parramatta features 30 residential apartments, designed by architecture and interior design studio YSG, welcoming scientists, researchers and creatives from Australia and around the world to collaborate with the museum. Each residency is layered with integrated elements resulting from collaborations with over 20 designers and fabricators including Maiden Co, Tait Enterprise, Adam Goodrum, Ka-Ra design, Tantri Mustika, Maryam Moghadam, Jonathan West, Olivia Bossy, Dowel Jones, Anna Varendorff, Grazia & Co and Five Mile Radius. Australian hardwood timbers hand-crafted by Maiden Co blend comfort with high functionality, desks and built-in-wardrobes, adding tactile warmth to the base build.

George Livissianis, recently known for designing Sydney restaurant Olympus, has designed the Powerhouse restaurant. Looking out onto the Parramatta River, the space features a considered pallet of aluminium, leather and cork, creating cohesion with the museum’s architecture. Industrial designer Adam Goodrum has designed a series of stools and tables, including The Bow Tie Table constructed from stainless steel and cork.

Argentine-Australian designer and Founder of Derlot, Alexander Lotersztain, has designed a unique retail environment that sits within the architecture. A large cylindrical volume of brushed stainless steel anchors the main retail space, resulting in both a functional fixture and a spatial presence.
Furniture for the Medich Foundation Cinema and bar, created to host film screenings and speaker programmes has been designed by Tom Fereday. Through an in-depth collaboration with Powerhouse, Fereday has created seating and tables made of velvet and natural aluminium. The pieces were carefully designed for their environment using unique contrasting materials that were robust and able to age and patina over time.

Beyond the interiors and fit out, design commissions are also integrated into Powerhouse Parramatta’s opening exhibition programme. Woodworkers and long-time collaborators Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu of Bala Ga’ Lili have created a unique display cabinet for the opening exhibition Task Eternal, while David Caon of Caon Design Office has designed a 100-year time capsule to hold scientific innovations, that will be launched as part of the opening of Powerhouse Parramatta.

The commissioning programme has been supported through a generous $2.5 million gift to Powerhouse from an anonymous donor. This support has enabled the commissioning of established and emerging Australian industrial designers and makers.

Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said, “As a museum of applied arts and sciences it is the museums’ role to engage and support the Australian Design industry. We are thankful to the many Australian designers and makers that have brought their vision and talent to Powerhouse Parramatta.”

Powerhouse Parramatta is proudly funded by the NSW Government, delivered by Infrastructure NSW, constructed by Lendlease, and is being realised through the generosity, support and collaboration of foundations, agencies, businesses and individuals for the benefit of NSW communities.

+++

Previously on e-architect:

1 May 2026

Design: Moreau Kusunoki and Genton

Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Powerhouse, Australia’s largest museum group, is undertaking one of the world’s most significant museum projects, the development of the new Powerhouse Parramatta, opening late 2026 on a landmark site in Western Sydney.

Powerhouse Parramatta is the biggest cultural infrastructure project in Australia since the Sydney Opera House. At 30,000 sqm it has been designed by Franco-Japanese architects Moreau Kusunoki (Lead Designer) and Australian architects Genton (Local Architect).

Located in the rapidly developing City of Parramatta in Western Sydney on Dharug land, the transformational project is the first state cultural institution to be built within one of Australia’s fastest growing and most diverse regions. Construction began over four years ago and the main building by delivery partner Lendlease is now complete, with interior exhibition fit outs underway across the site and final works continuing on the public domain.

Powerhouse Parramatta will deliver dynamic international exhibitions alongside an innovative learning and community programme, pioneering a new museum model that aims to redefine contemporary museum practice and culture. The building will feature seven large-scale exhibition spaces alongside learning and digital studios, a cinema, a modern theatre space for up to 600 people, an extensive rooftop garden, a restaurant and cafe. Thirty residential studios will be integrated into the museum programme, bringing together scientists, researchers and artists to collaborate with Powerhouse and its communities.

The Lang Walker Family Academy will offer expansive STEM learning programmes, delivered onsite at Powerhouse Parramatta in state-of-the-art education spaces, as well as accommodation for 60 students and teachers, setting a new benchmark for innovative learning experiences for students and driving change for young people by providing access to world-class science, technology and cultural learning experiences.

New thinking about the culture and production of food will be showcased through the Vitocco Family Kitchen, a 200-seat space which will bring together chefs and producers across Australia and around the world featuring a large-scale demonstration kitchen.

A green landscaped public domain between the museum and the river will be open 24 hours a day, connecting the community with industry and learning and supporting festival events and programmes for audiences of up to 10,000.

Opening with net-zero emissions from day one of operation, the museum is 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. It will embed sustainability across its design, operations, and programming – from water harvesting and renewable energy, zero-waste exhibition practices to a productive landscape and Caring for Country principles developed in collaboration with the First Nations communities of Sydney.

Powerhouse is the largest museum group in Australia with four locations across Sydney. With its origins in the Museum of Applied Arts and Science founded in 1879, it sits at the intersection of art, design, science, and technology. Custodian to over half a million objects of national and international signficance, it is considered one of the finest and most diverse collections in Australia. Powerhouse Parramatta forms part of a $1.4 billion AUD infrastructure renewal programme, which includes the renewal of the iconic Powerhouse in Ultimo, expanded research and public facilities at Powerhouse Castle Hill, and the ongoing heritage restoration of Sydney Observatory.

Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said, ‘Powerhouse Parramatta is a new generation museum, conceived to redefine the role of cultural institutions in contemporary life. 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 proudly funded by the NSW Government and is being realised through the generosity, support and collaboration of foundations, agencies, businesses and individuals for the benefit of its communities.

Architecture: Moreau Kusunoki – https://moreaukusunoki.com/ and Genton – https://www.genton.com.au/

Photography: Courtesy of Powerhouse Studio

Powerhouse Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales images / information received 010526

Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.