Labor's $300 million Powerhouse Ultimo revamp hit by last-minute hitch
Construction giant Richard Crookes has been appointed to revamp the museum, which will see staircases, internal walls and mezzanines demolished within the heritage listed Boiler House, Engine House, Power House and Turbine Hall, artisan studios built along Harris Street, and the building's entrance reoriented to Haymarket and the CBD.
Under plans approved only two months ago, the upper steel structure of the Wran Building and galleria, forming the modern wing of the Sulman Medal-winning architectural adaption to the 1988 museum, was to have been retained.
But it has now been deemed not strong enough to carry the new brick structure, and the steel-ribbed structure forming its galleria is to be replaced in the same scale and form, with a lower concrete structure kept in place to lessen the impact of construction works on the heritage Switch House.
Infrastructure NSW confirmed the late modification on Thursday, citing a series of concerns builders raised during the recent construction tender process. The existing steel structure was end-of-life and didn't meet current building codes and standards.
'Modification 1 is not about changing the design of the approved heritage revitalisation of Powerhouse Ultimo, it's about changing the methodology of building it,' a spokesperson said.
'The project remains on time and on budget, and a detailed construction program is currently being developed with Richard Crookes Constructions.'
Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said the revitalisation would deliver the best and safest outcome for the museum and its passionate community of visitors.
'Importantly the shape and scale of the iconic Wran and Galleria buildings will be safely replaced
and future-proofed, so they can be enjoyed by visitors and the community for decades to come,' he said.
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The Age
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Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
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Sydney Morning Herald
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‘Heavier and dark': Powerhouse Museum rebuild accused of trashing heritage significance
The National Trust has slammed last-minute changes to the $300 million Powerhouse redevelopment at Ultimo, saying they would effectively void a key part of the museum's heritage significance. The City of Sydney also objected to the planned 'total destruction and rebuilding' of the 1988-built Wran Building and bricking up of the museum's light-filled galleria. It warned the new museum would open with far less exhibition space – a loss of 1000sqm, about the equivalent of an Olympic sized swimming pool – and result in a 'heavier and darker' experience inside. 'The resulting building must now be considered – especially for the cost that will be outlaid – a compromised work of architecture, based as it is on recreating a series of shapes, rather than being based on museum functionality and display,' the National Trust's conservation director David Burdon said. 'It is not a good heritage outcome.' The state government appointed construction giant Richard Crookes in July to revamp the museum, which has been closed since February 2024. Loading Staircases, internal walls and mezzanines will be stripped out within the heritage-listed Boiler House, Engine House, Power House and Turbine Hall, new commercial creative studios built along Harris Street next to a 'cloister garden' on the bare forecourt, and a new entrance oriented to the Haymarket-facing Goods Line. On late advice from builders, and contrary to commitments Town Hall said it received, Infrastructure NSW now wants to replace the steel-ribbed structure forming the museum's specially built galleria that has long served as its entrance and display hall for the Locomotive No.1 and Boulton & Watt steam engine, priceless relics of the industrial age.
