A design competition will be held in 2021 to find the architect for the redevelopment of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney’s Ultimo, with between $480 and $500 million to be allocated to the project in the NSW budget.
The state’s arts minister Don Harwin and Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences CEO Lisa Havila made the announcement today, telling media that along with the $1.1 billion committed to Powerhouse Parramatta the spending represented the largest cultural infrastructure investment in the state since the Sydney Opera House was built.
The Ultimo museum had been earmarked for closure, before the state government backflipped on its decision to sell the site, to fund its relocation to Parramatta, and announced it would be retained in July 2020.
The redevelopment will deliver renewed and expanded exhibition and public space, connecting the museum to the city by re-orienting it to the Goods Line and connecting to adjacent precincts.
The renewed museum will focus on design and fashion, showing off the museum’s significant collections and hosting exclusive international exhibitions and programs, while the Parramatta museum will focus on science and technology.
The development of a “creative industries precinct” will also deliver subsidized studio and workspaces at Ultimo for creative industries, while “more than 5,000 regional and remote students from across NSW will further their design and fashion education through immersive experiences at The Academy, which will provide residential accommodation within the museum precinct.”
The $480-500 million in the budget will cover the cost of the design competition and approval processes.
“When the Ultimo project is finished we will not only have a new museum but a great new day and night precinct that will continue the activation of the Southern CBD,” said Harwin, Arts Hub reports. “This area is focused on technology and design but it will also keep a nod to the past.”
Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah said, “The renewal of our institution will deliver two world-class museums – with a design and fashion focus at Powerhouse Ultimo and our flagship museum focused on science and technology museum, Powerhouse Parramatta.
“This visionary investment will see the expansion of our exhibition spaces as well as renewal of our historic exhibition spaces. We will create a vibrant public square beside the Goods Line, and creative industries workspaces that will become home for Australian designers.”
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will hand down the budget on 22 June.
The budget is also expected to include more than $1 billion for the development of the Aerotropolis, now known as Bradfield, around Western Sydney Airport.
