Powerhouse has revealed the first details of a major design commissioning program for Powerhouse Parramatta, engaging more than 50 leading designers from across Australia to shape the new museum ahead of its anticipated opening in late 2026. Designed by Franco-Japanese architects Moreau Kusunoki with Genton as local architect, the project is the largest cultural infrastructure development in Australia since the Sydney Opera House and marks Western Sydneyโs first state cultural institution. The initiative extends across architecture, interiors, landscape, hospitality and exhibition design, embedding Australian design into every layer of the museum experience. For the architecture community tracking cultural buildings, the program signals a shift toward distributed authorship in public projects.
A broad cohort of designers and studios โ including Adam Goodrum, Fiona Lynch, Tom Fereday, YSG Studio, and Derlot โ has contributed to spaces ranging from public domains and accommodation to retail and dining environments. George Livissianis has designed the museumโs restaurant, while Alexander Lotersztain has developed a retail environment anchored by a cylindrical stainless-steel form. The Lang Walker Family Academy accommodation, designed by Fiona Lynch, will host up to 10,000 students annually, while YSG has created 30 residential apartments for visiting creatives and researchers. Furniture and object design commissions extend throughout, including contributions from Tom Fereday and Damien Wright and Bonhula Yunupingu. This approach integrates hospitality design and object-scale craft into the museumโs institutional framework.
Commissioning as Cultural Investment
Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah said, โAs a museum of applied arts and sciences it is the museumsโ role to engage and support the Australian Design industry. We are thankful to the many Australian designers and makers that have brought their vision and talent to Powerhouse Parramatta.โ Supported by a $2.5 million anonymous donation, the commissioning program underscores a significant investment in Australian design as both cultural expression and public experience. The funding model demonstrates how philanthropy can directly shape public realm design and procurement, creating opportunities for mid-career and established studios to work at institutional scale.
The museumโs design strategy deliberately avoids a singular aesthetic, instead curating a network of voices across disciplines. The Lang Walker Family Academyโs residential program is positioned to activate the site beyond exhibition hours, supporting school groups and regional access with accommodation designed by Fiona Lynch that balances durability with domestic warmth. YSGโs 30 apartments for visiting creatives and researchers embed live-work infrastructure into the cultural precinct, extending the museumโs role from exhibition venue to research hub. Retail and dining, often subcontracted in large institutions, are here treated as core spatial experiences. George Livissianisโ restaurant and Alexander Lotersztainโs stainless-steel retail cylinder establish material and formal dialogues with Moreau Kusunokiโs architectural language while asserting distinct interior identities.
Object and furniture commissions reinforce the museumโs applied arts mandate. Tom Fereday, Damien Wright, and Bonhula Yunupingu are among the designers contributing bespoke pieces that will populate circulation, learning, and hospitality zones. The inclusion of Yunupingu, a Yolลu artist and craftsman, brings First Nations making traditions into direct conversation with contemporary industrial design. This aligns with broader shifts in Australian public architecture toward embedding Indigenous design collaboration at multiple scales, from landscape narrative to furniture detail. The commissioning of more than 50 designers also distributes economic impact across the sector, from Sydney-based studios to regional makers.
Powerhouse Parramatta is sited on the Parramatta River foreshore and forms a key part of the New South Wales Governmentโs cultural infrastructure pipeline. As Western Sydneyโs first state cultural institution, it addresses geographic equity in arts access while anchoring urban renewal in Parramattaโs central business district. The Moreau Kusunoki and Genton design features a lattice exoskeleton and column-free exhibition halls, creating flexible interiors for large-scale objects and digital installations. The decision to layer Australian interior and object design onto this international framework reflects Powerhouseโs mission as a museum of applied arts and sciences. It also tests a model for future institutions where architecture provides the shell and local design intelligence defines the experience. With opening slated for late 2026, the project will become a case study in how procurement, philanthropy, and design curation intersect in museum architecture. Details on the project are available via Powerhouse.
Image Courtesy: Architecture, Au
