Powerhouse Ultimo
Renewal
Renewal
Powerhouse Ultimo
Renewal
Client:
Create NSW
Location:
Ultimo, Sydney, NSW
Status:
Winning design team, National Design Competition, 2022
In collaboration:
Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio and Youssofzay + Hart, working with Akira Isogawa, Yerrabingin, Finding Infinity and Arup
Project Value:
$250 million
The renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo will ensure the much-loved Sydney museum and its precinct flourish for generations to come.
After winning a national design competition for the project, our creative collective of designers, place makers and innovators have played a key role in revitalising and expanding the museum.
The design team comprises Architectus, Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio, Openwork, Youssofzay + Hart, Akira Isogawa, Yerrabingin, Finding Infinity and Arup.
The concept reimagines Powerhouse Ultimo as a creative precinct beyond its walls, connecting the ever-changing life of the museum with the life of the modern city – all within a place that’s connected to, and in tune with, the ancient rhythms of Country.
The revitalised Powerhouse Ultimo begins with the legacy of adaptive re-use of the former power station while re-calibrating the precinct to a new powerful present.
The heritage industrial halls are celebrated, the Wran building is revitalised, and a modest new building complements and invigorates the existing relationship with the surrounding streets and neighbourhood.
Respectful and immediate, the new building lives alongside the historic Powerhouse core, creating a precinct of unified brick buildings.
The new building lines Harris Street and is activated by Powerhouse program and creative industries for its full length. A courtyard and street entry creative industry spaces sits adjacent to the Post Office and Wran building. Harris Street is activated by creative uses, lining the Wran building Exhibition space. To the south of the new entry, a colonnade follows the grade of the street, with entry to a makers’ space and views into a new program space.
The northern portion of the site holds the major exhibition spaces of the Museum. Approximately five thousand square metres of exhibition spaces are located at The Goods Line level. Rectangular and divisible, they are occupiable in an open-ended format. Exhibition space 3 can be utilised as a large auditorium with retractable seating.
The southern portion of the building is dynamic and interlocked, flexible and free, available for a multitude of uses in time and over time. The new program space to the south opens to a paved and planted courtyard. Positioned at a mid level between The Goods Line and Harris street, direct access to Macarthur Street is provided through both a level entry and wide landscape stairs. The new courtyard reveals the full two story heritage façade of the Switch House, reinstating openings to provide light and ventilation to rooms within.
A range of flexible spaces for community usage, administration, academy and roof terrace are located in the Switch House. Removal of the administration roof addition returns the Switch House to its original profile.
Direct access between these major museum levels is provided by escalators, stairs and lifts. Wide stairs emulate topography and allow for impromptu gathering and events.
Made from materials collected, recycled and new, the fabric of the facades is both archaic and layered, articulating the continuity of time. Brick becomes the palette of the campus, a unifying material of longevity and familiarity.
The interiors of the heritage Boiler Hall and Turbine Hall spaces are enhanced through the removal of mezzanine and interstitial spaces. The heritage fabric of the Power Station is repaired and conserved and the spaces attuned for ongoing development of contemporary museum practice to ensure the Powerhouse can present exhibitions and programs remains relevant and connected to its communities.
For more information, visit the Powerhouse renewal website.
MoreLess
Client:
Create NSW
Location:
Ultimo, Sydney, NSW
Status:
Winning design team, National Design Competition, 2022
In collaboration:
Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio and Youssofzay + Hart, working with Akira Isogawa, Yerrabingin, Finding Infinity and Arup
Project Value:
$250 million
