Phive Parramatta Square opening draws closer
An upside down replica Eels bus has landed and the opening for the bold civic building is edging closer. The countdown to Parramatta Square’s centrepiece has begun.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The upside down Eels bus is parked in Parramatta Square and nearby, the eye-catching Phive building will transform from a red-sloped roofed building to a contemporary $130 million facility housing a library, council chambers and performance spaces.
After two years of construction, Phive, also known as 5 Parramatta Square, will open on September 22 and house the council chambers, a research lab, discovery and cultural centres, indigenous objects, 24/7 book return facility, digital resources and an extensive book collection over six storeys.
Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis said Phive was the centrepiece of the $2.7 billion Parramatta Square project and was a reflection of the city being “vibrant, innovative, unique and evolving with a rich past and a promising future”.
“We are so excited that our community, cultural and civic building, Phive, is nearing completion and getting ready to open its doors this spring,’’ she said.
It will also be the epicentre of local politics and where council meetings will get under way from October 24.
The building is also designed with a “smart system”.
“The building’s smart system responds to weather conditions including sun, wind and humidity, filling the building with fresh and air natural light as needed,’’ Cr Davis said.
Smack bang in the centre of the square’s domain is the Parramatta Eels bus, which almost looks like a slim tower from afar but is an 8m aluminium replica that depicts a chapter of the club’s glory years of the 1980s when players used the bus as a makeshift office.
The Leyland Worldmaster bus, which remains fenced off, was used for team meetings after delirious fans torched the Cumberland Oval grandstand to celebrate the club’s maiden premiership in 1981.
Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro’s artwork was selected after an international competition in 2020 and Cr Davis is confident it will be embraced.
“All great cities have great buildings and great artworks and this larger-than-life piece will be a landmark for our city,’’ she said.
Phive won’t be the last building to open at the enormous $3.5 billion Parramatta Square, which Walker Corporation declares will make the CBD one of the best in Australia and “has created an urban transformation that has shifted the way Sydney thinks about the west”.
“The new CBD is delivering thousands of jobs to the heart of Parramatta in a powerful boost to the local economy and we can all be proud of its transition into a prime destination to live, work and socialise,’’ a Walker spokesman said.
MORE NEWS
More Coverage
Pro-Palestine speaker’s visa under review after ‘celebration’ remark
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is reviewing the visa of a US guest speaker who told a pro-Palestine vigil in Western Sydney that October 7 was a cause for “celebration”.
‘So, so devastating’: Mainstay deli shuts after 70 years
The closure of an iconic southwest Sydney deli has prompted its legion of customers to express how the institution – treasured like the Opera House – meant more than prosciutto and panini.