Walk up to Powerhouse Parramatta from the Parramatta River and the first thing you see is the powerhouse parramatta lattice exoskeleton. Its lattice forms climb around two rectangular volumes, and they do the structural work that columns would normally do inside.
The museum sits on Dharug land, on the northern edge of Sydney‘s central business district. Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki won the 2019 international design competition. The studio delivered the building with local architect Genton and engineers from Arup. It is the second venue for the Powerhouse, the museum of applied arts and sciences whose roots go back nearly 150 years in central Sydney. Project details are published at moreaukusunoki.com.
The powerhouse parramatta lattice exoskeleton: a structure that is also the facade
The powerhouse parramatta lattice exoskeleton is more than a skin. Made from more than 1,300 individual pieces, it carries the load and forms the facade at the same time. The exoskeleton’s V forms reach 18 metres from the ground to the first platform.
Because the lattice takes the weight, the galleries inside need no columns. Curators can rearrange large spaces without working around structural supports. The tallest V forms rise 18 metres from ground level to the first platform, and the visible effort of holding that weight is part of the building’s appeal. Moreau Kusunoki says the powerhouse parramatta lattice exoskeleton was designed at three scales: hand, building and infrastructure.
The lattice draws on the industrial and manufacturing heritage of the site. The project spans 30,000 square metres.
Like Powerhouse Parramatta, this project reworks an existing base into something new, layering fresh structure over a older form. Brutalist base turned mass-timber at Amherst shows how a structural rethink can reshape a building’s character.
Inside the galleries and the in-between
The building’s layout reads clearly from outside. Black-box exhibition rooms stack across floors, marked by the lattice’s horizontal members. Along the river, double-height circulation spaces and flexible areas run the length of both blocks.
Moreau Kusunoki draws on mâ, the Japanese concept of the interval between things, people and time. The studio says these in-between spaces are transparent and full of daylight, while the exhibition rooms are opaque. Visitors look out over the river and the horizon from them. The architects expect talks and chance encounters to form in these gaps, which they describe as spaces where events arise “through the cracks.”
Exhibition Space 1 is one of the largest galleries in Australia. It stands 18 metres high. The building also has 30 residential studios.
The ground level is open. The two blocks face each other across a riverside terrace above a garden that slopes to the water. The ground plane is porous, linking the Civic Link to the riverfront.
Opening exhibitions
The opening programme is large. Five major exhibitions open with the building, which opened to the public on Saturday 7 November. The opening weeks bring a full programme of events, drawing on a substantial collection of objects.
The flagship is Task Eternal, designed by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing of Beijing practice Open Architecture. It follows humanity’s urge to leave the ground across four acts and more than 850 objects. The exhibition borrows its structure from Ted Chiang’s short story Tower of Babylon.
Other shows take a different route. The Mall, designed with OMA and David Gianotten, examines the shopping centre across two storeys of thematic zones. It places the archive of Austrian-born American architect Victor Gruen alongside Western Sydney material and community memorabilia.
Es Devlin’s The Turning is the British artist‘s first major exhibition in Australia. It includes poetic films and a mirror maze. Overflow, a First Nations-led exhibition about water Country, occupies an upper gallery with city views. A film by Ivan Sen and a design made with Country by Tyrrell Studio anchor it. Seven community organisations contribute stories of caring for saltwater and freshwater ecosystems.
Early impressions from the opening weekend
The Yellowtrace essay on the opening describes a building that refuses to be pinned down. More than 26,000 people registered for the opening weekend, and the writer, whose family settled in Parramatta in 1994, found the crowd busy and chaotic. The writer says the crowd showed who the building is for.
The building also holds a 200-seat demonstration kitchen, the Lang Walker Family Academy, a rooftop garden with an observatory and greenhouse, and a retail program that doubles as an incubator for emerging designers. The ING Garden Pavilion will host talks and workshops.
Task Eternal and the flight gallery
Task Eternal takes over the main hall, an 18-metre-high gallery. Its objects include delicate sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, a bumarang collected in Parramatta, and space suits and film costumes. It also includes a giant F1 rocket engine and a zero-emission electric aircraft.
The exhibition is not a straight chronology. It moves through science, engineering, design and art, and it challenges Western, patriarchal and colonial narratives of flight. The Yellowtrace writer found that the deeper one looks, the more there is to see.
The James Turrell installation sits at the top of the tower. Visitors reach it by ascending the tower. Entry is free for most of the opening exhibitions. Children under 16 enter free.
Es Devlin, The Mall and The Dark
Of the five opening exhibitions, four are free. The Dark is an interactive adventure built for children.
If the galleries here show how museum architecture can serve its collection, Peter Zumthor’s approach to a museum addition offers a useful comparison. Peter Zumthor’s three-part Fondation Beyeler museum expansion is worth a look for its quieter take on gallery design.
Local designers and the question of value
Australian designers shaped much of the interior. Fiona Lynch designed the Lang Walker Family Academy, YSG designed the Powerhouse Residences and George Livissianis designed the hospitality interiors, including the restaurant Simara. McGregor Coxall and Tyrrell Studio shaped the landscape. Alexander Lotersztain of Derlot lit the brushed stainless steel Powerhouse Store from within.
Visitor details and bookings are listed at powerhouse.com.au.
Powerhouse Parramatta answers its own brief as museum architecture. A museum built around a steel frame gives its curators room to move, and the powerhouse parramatta lattice exoskeleton keeps the physical effort of holding up the building in full view. Whether the visitors who came in the opening weeks come back is the more useful measure.
H/T wallpaper.com
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the Powerhouse Parramatta building and its lattice structure?
Paris-based studio Moreau Kusunoki won the 2019 international design competition for Powerhouse Parramatta. The studio delivered the building with local architect Genton and engineers from Arup.
Why do the Powerhouse Parramatta galleries have no columns?
The steel lattice exoskeleton carries the building’s load and forms the facade at the same time, so the galleries inside need no columns. Curators can rearrange large spaces without working around structural supports.
When did Powerhouse Parramatta open to the public?
The building opened to the public on Saturday 7 November. Five major exhibitions opened along with it.
How many objects are in the Task Eternal exhibition?
Task Eternal, the flagship exhibition designed by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing of Open Architecture, includes more than 850 objects. It follows humanity’s urge to leave the ground across four acts.
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