Powerhouse Castle Hill, which features exhibition space and areas for education programs and workshops, will be officially opened by NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham.
It is the new home for the storage, conservation and display of the Powerhouse Collection which includes more than 500,000 objects.
This is the first time in the museum’s 140-year history that the collection will be stored in one location and co-located alongside conservation, curatorial and collection management staff.
With floorspace of more than 8,000 square metres, Powerhouse Castle Hill has been built to international museum standards and features a visible store that allows public viewing into the 3,000 sqm large object storage area that holds the museum’s transport collection.
The design of Powerhouse Castle Hill has already earned Lahznimmo Architects a nomination in the Australian Institute of Architects 2024 New South Wales Architecture Awards in the category of Public Architecture.
The new building will provide public access for education programs, workshops, talks, exhibitions and other public events as well as working spaces for academic researchers, scientists and industry partners.
The opening of the building is part of the evolution of the Castle Hill site, which was originally a botanical research station for the museum. From the late 1970s, the Powerhouse started storing some of its collection at Castle Hill.
The expansion of Castle Hill is an integral piece of the $1.2 billion renewal of the Powerhouse which includes Powerhouse Parramatta, currently under construction, and the heritage revitalisation of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo.
Over two days from 10am – 4pm, visitors can enjoy free, family-friendly workshops, artists talks, architectural tours and performances by musicians, DJs and dancers including First Nations group Jannawi Dance Clan, Western Sydney Youth Orchestra and one of Australia’s oldest lion and dragon dancing troupes, Jin Wu Koon.
The opening weekend will also premiere the first exhibition in the new building, Alchemy, presenting commissions by First Nations artists from across Australia who specialise in natural dyeing techniques.
NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham said:
“The opening of this new facility is a significant step towards ensuring people from across our city, and across the state can access and enjoy our important cultural collections.
“The Powerhouse Castle Hill increases the community’s access to cultural infrastructure and arts programming in Sydney’s north-west.
“There are 500,000 objects here that are going to be kept with the best care possible, and be a wonderful reason for people in other parts of Sydney and NSW to visit.
Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said:
“It is a transformative moment in the history of our museum with the opening today of Powerhouse Castle Hill. We are incredibly thankful to the NSW Government for its investment into the renewal of the Powerhouse. I would also like to thank our delivery partners; Create NSW, NSW Public Works and Taylors Construction who demonstrated absolute commitment delivering an exceptional piece of infrastructure that will support the care of the Powerhouse Collection for many generations to come. The design was led by an ambitious design team Lahznimmo Architects and out thanks go to Andrew Nimmo and his team for their outstanding work.”
Lahznimmo Architects Director Andrew Nimmo said:
“The building sits within the tradition of large industrial sheds, and it was important that it be true to type, but as the new public facing representation of the Powerhouse Museum at Castle Hill, it needed something special; so there is rigour in the selection of materials and how they are assembled that you do not usually see applied to this typology. The material palette, both inside and out, is minimal and elemental, with the honest expression of materials on display to showcase their natural properties – including mill finish aluminium, off-form concrete walls and polished concrete floors. We aimed for ‘beautiful utility’; a building with a calmness and cool precision that would functionally serve the activities within and protect the collection.”
Taylor Senior Project Manager Steve Ziaziaris said:
“Taylor is proud to have been selected as the delivery partner on this ground-breaking project, transforming a once narrow strip of land into a unique and beautiful building. Our collaboration with Lisa Havilah and her team emphasised detail and aesthetics, overcoming unique challenges to deliver a building that exceeds expectations.”
Powerhouse Castle Hill is open from 10-4pm every weekend. Today and tomorrow, free regular shuttle buses between Powerhouse Castle Hill and Hills Showground Metro Station will be running throughout the weekend. Parking is also available in the TAFE NSW car park, entrance via Green Rd.
For the full of program of official opening weekend events visit https://ph.au/43dGq8x