Powerhouse Castle Hill has won the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture.
It is the second major architecture award the facility has won this year.
Presented by the Australian Institute of Architects on Thursday 7th November, the the 2024 National Architecture Awards’ recognises Powerhouse Castle Hill as ‘an exemplar of architecture as an interface between the public and research, preservation and curation’.
The Jury citation also described the building as one which ‘invites curiosity – placing architecture as a vehicle for experience, both fascinating and cerebral’.
It was designed by Sydney-based Lahznimmo Architects, built by Australian construction company Taylor and delivered in partnership with Create NSW, Powerhouse Castle Hill opened in March 2024.
The $44 million development at Castle Hill is part of a $1.3 billion transformation of Powerhouse, led by the creation of Powerhouse Parramatta, one of the world’s most significant new museum developments, and is set to open in 2026.
Powerhouse Castle Hill represents a reshaping of museum practice to increase accessibility to collections and connection to local communities, allowing visitors to enjoy one of Australia’s most important applied arts and sciences collection of over half a million objects.
At more than 8,000sqm, Powerhouse Castle Hill has been constructed to international museum standards and features a visible store, allowing public viewing into the 3,000 sqm Very Large Object storage area holding the museum’s transport collection.
It also features one of the southern hemisphere’s largest photographic cycloramas that can carry objects up to 4 tonnes and enable the ongoing digitisation of the collection. Powerhouse Chief Executive Lisa Havilah said, ‘We are thrilled that Powerhouse Castle Hill has been awarded the Sir Zelman Cowen Award, the highest prize in Australian architecture.
It sets a new international benchmark in bringing research, collection, conservation and community together in new ways, designed specifically for the Powerhouse Collection.’
Lahznimmo Architects Director Andrew Nimmo said, ‘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 protect the Powerhouse Collection and functionally serve the activities within.’
Powerhouse Castle Hill was also awarded the 2024 New South Wales Architecture Award for Public Architecture earlier this year.
Powerhouse Castle Hill is open every weekend 10 am–4 pm. To find out more visit https://powerhouse.com.au/visit/castle-hill
