Powerhouse Parramatta opens its doors tomorrow in western Sydney

Powerhouse Parramatta, a new museum on the banks of the Parramatta River, opens to the public on Saturday 7 November 2026, according to Powerhouse. The building sits at 34 Phillip Street in Parramatta, in Sydney's west.

The museum was designed by Moreau Kusunoki, a Paris-based architecture studio, working with Genton, an Australian architecture firm. It covers 30,000 square metres and is split into two blocky forms that join on the upper levels. A three-layer steel lattice wraps the whole building. That frame works as both the outer face and the structure holding it up, and Dezeen describes the project as the largest cultural project in Australia since the Sydney Opera House.

The steel frame is also what allows the main gallery to have no pillars. Exhibition Space 1 is 18 metres high and covers more than 2,000 square metres. Its hoisting door, a lifting wall in five sections, opens onto a terrace along the riverside. Dezeen calls it the largest column-free exhibition space in Australia.

Beyond that hall, the museum has seven more traditional exhibition spaces. It also holds 30 residential studios, co-working spaces and rooms for community-led learning. The New South Wales government says the building is Western Sydney's first state cultural institution and will be Sydney's largest museum when it opens. The NSW Government has framed it as a new civic and cultural building for the region.

The opening will launch with five exhibitions. A 23-day Opening Festival follows, with talks, workshops, food, music and performances. One session, called Making Powerhouse Parramatta, features Moreau Kusunoki and runs from 10:30 to 11:30am on Saturday 7 November, on Level 1 of the building.

For visitors who live farther out, the building is close to Parramatta's transport hub, and the festival runs for most of the month. Anyone planning a first visit should check the Powerhouse website for session times and tickets before setting out.