Highest point completed for eastern building of Parramatta Powerhouse Museum
A milestone has been reached for a building to house international exhibitions in the $915m Parramatta Powerhouse Museum. Take a look at its progress.
NSW
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Construction of the highest point of the Parramatta Powerhouse Museum’s eastern building has wrapped up, bringing the completion of “Australia’s most exciting new cultural landmark” a step closer.
The milestone, also called topping out, was reached for Building B, and was marked with the placement of an Australian pine tree on top of the structure as part of a construction tradition.
Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah said the topping out marked an exciting chapter for Powerhouse Parramatta and was significant for the people of western Sydney.
“The topping out of Building B brings us closer to delivering our communities a dynamic space for creativity, learning and connection by offering a world class venue for art, culture and innovation and cementing Parramatta’s position as a vibrant cultural hub,’’ she said.
The museum was due to open next year but is now delayed to 2026.
Despite this, Powerhouse leaders say the topping out marked the culmination of several key milestones for the $915m project on the banks of the Parramatta River.
That includes the completion of all building cores, the installation of six out of eight escalators and two of the three link bridges that connect the eastern and western buildings are completed.
The structural formation of six out of the seven exhibition spaces and the installation of the exoskeleton up to level 4 of both buildings – equating to the use of 600,000kg of steel every month – have also been completed.
Lendlease Construction general manager David Langford said strong progress had been made on the project.
“Having reached this significant milestone in Building B’s construction, we’re looking forward to delivering this world-class cultural space for the people of Parramatta and beyond,’’ he said.
Powerhouse Trust president Peter Collins said the “extraordinary” Powerhouse Collection would be housed in Building B and featured nationally and internationally-significant exhibitions in the Holdmark and Sir William Tyree Foundation galleries.
“These exhibitions will connect audiences with new ideas around the applied arts and applied sciences and will benefit the people of NSW, particularly the communities of western Sydney,’’ he said.
The topping out of the western building is to follow next year.
Powerhouse Parramatta, which is the largest NSW Government investment in cultural architecture since the Sydney Opera House, was built more than 50 years ago.
When completed it is set to welcome two million visitors through its doors in the first year and will have 18,000sq m of museum exhibition and public space including a rooftop garden.
Originally published as Highest point completed for eastern building of Parramatta Powerhouse Museum
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