Back in late 2023, plans for the major renovation of Ultimo’s heritage-listed Powerhouse Museum were revealed, with the museum closing its doors on February 5, 2024 for the $300-million makeover. Now, the project has reached a major milestone: with planning approval now secured and site establishment works expected to wrap up in the coming months.
Starting its life in the Garden Palace inside the Botanic Gardens way back in 1879, the Powerhouse Museum is a 146-year-old institution, with a collection of more than 500,000 objects. And while the museum’s Ultimo home undeniably served as an appropriately striking shell, the 126-year-old former power station was in need of some TLC to keep it operating into the future. In September 2024, the heritage status of the building was extended, guaranteeing that the inner-city site will remain a museum of applied arts and sciences well into the future, and site establishment works on the site began in November 2024.
Now, the official plans for a heritage revitalisation of the Powerhouse Museum have been approved by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, with construction of the new project (designed by Durbach Block Jaggers in partnership with Architectus, Youssofzay + Hart and landscape architects Tyrell Studio) expected to start in the middle of this year.
Slated to cost $300 million, the mega revitalisation project will involve the addition of a new garden square that will make it more easily accessible from surrounding precincts like Haymarket and Railway Square, along with major upgrades to the centuries-old buildings which were initially built back in the 1800s as turbine halls, tram depots and factory rooms.
As well as restoring the building’s heritage-listed shell (including the distinctive roof of the Wran building), the renovations will introduce new exhibition spaces, aiming to maintain the Powerhouse’s position as “a cultural icon of Sydney”.
Minister for Arts John Graham explained, “With planning approval in place, the museum secures its future as a leading museum of applied arts and sciences with world-class exhibition spaces that will offer audiences a superior experience and allow the Powerhouse Museum to program an exciting range of local and international exhibitions for all to enjoy.”
The revitalisation project is expected to create around 755 direct jobs during construction, and support more than 200 direct and indirect jobs when the museum re-opens, injecting an estimated $225 million into the local economy.
While the original Ultimo Powerhouse is being restored, a whole new outpost is taking shape in Sydney’s second CBD – with Powerhouse Parramatta due to open on the banks of the Parramatta River over the next few years. You can keep up to date over here.
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