On 7 November 2026, Powerhouse Parramatta opens to the public in Western Sydney. It is the region’s first state cultural institution, and the largest museum built in New South Wales.
The building sits on the Parramatta River, wrapped in a white steel lattice. Five opening exhibitions and a 23-day festival fill its galleries, from 7 to 29 November.
A steel lattice around column-free galleries
Moreau Kusunoki, a French and Japanese architecture studio, designed the building with Genton, an Australian practice. Genton says it won an international design competition in 2019 and calls the project Australia‘s largest cultural endeavour since the Sydney Opera House.
Two large volumes sit inside the lattice. The lattice forms the exoskeleton. The steel allows column-free interiors.
Sources differ on the size of the building. The main report cites 18,000 square metres of public and exhibition space.
Outside, the project adds a landscaped square that links the museum to the river. A rooftop garden, an observatory and education spaces extend its use beyond the galleries.
Rooftop observatories share a civic spirit with this reopened dome. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Florida planetarium reopens after renovation is worth a look for its architecture and public role.
Five opening exhibitions
- The Turning, the first major Australian exhibition by British artist Es Devlin
- Task Eternal, on humanity’s ambition to fly and leave Earth, which includes James Turrell’s Shangri La (Over The Hump)
- The Mall, developed with OMA/AMO, on the social, cultural and design history of shopping centres
- Overflow, a First Nations-led exhibition on relationships with water across New South Wales
- The Dark, an immersive children’s exhibition
The sources also disagree on the number of objects. The main report says more than 3,000 objects will appear across the opening exhibitions.
Es Devlin’s The Turning asks visitors to take part
Devlin’s exhibition brings together five large-scale installations. Forest of Us is a mirrored labyrinth that mirrors the branching structure of human lungs and trees. Memory Palace is a three-dimensional landscape tracing moments that shaped human understanding over 75,000 years.
Visitors can sit opposite a stranger in Collective Portrait and draw each other. Devlin describes the exercise as a way to sustain a gaze.
“It’s unusual to sustain a gaze with a stranger for 15 minutes, and it shifts you,” Devlin told the ABC. She said the work relies on the audience: “The works aren’t complete until you arrive.”
Three years ago, Devlin first saw the site, she told the ABC. “The river delta was my first introduction to this place,” she said. The team then worked with First Nations collaborators and curators to shape the work for Parramatta.
The ABC reports that all of the installations were made in Australia, using local workers and materials. Memory Palace includes places with local weight, such as Madjebebe, a sandstone rock shelter in Arnhem Land that holds the earliest evidence of humans in Australia, and The Block in Redfern.
Outside the museum, Redraw the Edges of Yourself is an egg-shaped sound stage containing 244 hand-drawn studies of endangered local flora and fauna. Inside, Screen Share projects choreography onto hundreds of sketchbooks. At the end, visitors may tear out a page.
James Turrell and the flight exhibition
American artist James Turrell contributes Shangri La (Over The Hump), a light installation within Task Eternal. It belongs to his Ganzfeld series, which uses light and colour to change how viewers perceive space.
The Guardian describes a rainbow-hued walk-in room at the top of a tower. Visitors enter an environment of shifting hues.
Light that changes how a room feels is a shared thread here. LED sculpture lighting Walt Disney Concert Hall offers a useful comparison for readers curious about light-based art in public buildings.
Task Eternal covers aviation and space travel. Its exhibition examines humanity’s fascination with flight and space exploration. Lawrence Hargrave’s 19th-century flying rigs also appear, the Guardian reports.
Visitors under 16 enter free, according to the Guardian.
Festival and debate
The opening festival runs for 23 days, with talks, workshops, food, music and performances.
The project has also drawn criticism. The Guardian reports that a New South Wales Treasury investigation followed allegations about governance and procurement.
The cost is also contested.
The first test of Powerhouse Parramatta is whether its audience comes west. The steel, the galleries and the free program now have to draw visitors across the city and back again.
Sources & Links
Source: designboom.com
Frequently asked questions
When does Powerhouse Parramatta open to the public?
Powerhouse Parramatta opens to the public on 7 November 2026 in Western Sydney. Its opening festival runs for 23 days, from 7 to 29 November.
Who designed the Powerhouse Parramatta building?
The building was designed by Moreau Kusunoki, a French and Japanese architecture studio, together with Genton, an Australian practice. Genton says the design won an international design competition in 2019.
What is Es Devlin’s The Turning exhibition about?
The Turning is the first major Australian exhibition by British artist Es Devlin and is part of the opening exhibitions at Powerhouse Parramatta. It is titled Task Eternal and focuses on humanity’s ambition to fly and leave Earth, and it includes James Turrell’s light installation Shangri La (Over The Hump).
Is admission free for children at Powerhouse Parramatta?
According to the Guardian, visitors under 16 enter free. The article does not give general admission prices for other visitors.
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