Powerhouse Parramatta museum opens on the Parramatta River in western Sydney

Billed as Australia's largest cultural project since the Sydney Opera House1, Powerhouse Parramatta2 sits on the banks of the Parramatta River in western Sydney. Paris studio Moreau Kusunoki, working with Australian firm Genton and engineer Jun Sato, has split the 30,000-square-metre museum into two blocky volumes joined on the upper floors and wrapped in a three-layered steel lattice that is both facade and structure, a nod to the Sydney Harbour Bridge3 and the site's industrial past.

That exoskeleton frees the inside of columns. Exhibition Space 1, said to be the largest column-free gallery in Australia, rises 18 metres and opens through a five-part hoisting door onto a riverside terrace. Between the galleries sit glazed, light-filled pauses the architects link to the Japanese idea of mâ. Walls are clad in textured concrete panels, some finished with hand-applied oystershell render. There are also 30 residential studios, a rooftop garden and greenhouse, and an observatory under a retractable roof, while two-thirds of the site is public landscape planted with indigenous species.

The museum was due to open on 7 November 2026 with five major exhibitions, including Task Eternal, The Mall and Es Devlin's The Turning, followed by three weeks of events. Dezeen, which published the piece, is a partner on its opening talks. Worth the trip out from central Sydney for the building alone.

Our summary of a story from Dezeen, published 6 November 2026. Read the original