A significant condition The development application for the renewal of the 146-year-old Ultimo of $ 300 million has received the planning approval of the NSW government.
Designed by Durbach Block Jaggers in collaboration with Architectus, Youssofay and Hart and Landscape Architects Tyrell Studio, a contract for the project is expected to be awarded shortly after almost a decade of design revisions.
The approved project focuses on the reorientation of the original museum entrance to the goods line – a partially increased urban sidewalk from the central station in the CBD Sydney to Darling Harbor – to maximize the use of the pedestrian connection and to improve access to public transport.
The facade of the Harris Street is activated by a new built form, which describes the planning application as sympathetic to the existing skin of the cultural heritage. These materials include a mixture of recycled and new bricks, brick slides, stone, ceramics, glass, metal cladding and concrete.
According to a communique of the NSW government, “the project design will exhibit excellent form in the built form and in public domain and make it a contemporary facility with a variety of exhibition rooms that were designed for the international museum standards.” The publication adds that the museum contains new and improved exhibition rooms and a new public square at the northern end of the goods line.
The development application for the modest renewal of the location was first issued in May 2024 and then in September 2024 after the NSW government's announcement that the Powerhouse Museum Ultimo Complex would expand its heir on the 1988 Wran building, which Galleria from 1988 and the Harwood building from 1899 would expand from the original 1988 power plant. Construction work began in November 2024, with the construction work began in mid -2025.
The NSW Minister of Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, said that the newly designed museum would improve visitor experience with more public space and better accessibility for the surrounding roads. “The approval of the project to revitalize Powerhouse Ultimo is an important step in order to be able to renew this cultural institution for greater public use,” said Scully.