"Sydney Modern provides a new type of gallery experience that is freer in movement, more connected to the landscape surrounding it, and more diverse in the scale and type of art it can house.”
2023 NSW Architecture Awards jury
Project Info
Client
Infrastructure NSW
Lead Architect
SANAA
Executive Architect
Architectus
Value
$274 million
Completed
2022
Award winning exhibition space
Naala Badu (formerly Sydney Modern) doubles the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ exhibition space. This new art museum campus provides visitors with rich and diverse experiences, and comprises two world-class buildings, a public art garden and restored WWII oil tankers.
Australia’s first public art museum to achieve a 6-Star Green Star design rating, Naala Badu is powered solely by renewable energy. The 2,200sqm converted naval fuel bunker integrates enhanced digital capabilities with revitalised industrial infrastructure.
Meticulous planning and site management ensured the successful delivery of complex pavilions, including some suspended over Sydney CBD’s busiest freeway, despite being delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sydney is the cultural capital of Australia - this major expansion of our art gallery will attract tourists from around the world.”
Dominic Perrottet
NSW Premier
Awards
2023 Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Large Projects - Winner
2023 Australian Institute of Architects National Award for Public Architecture - Winner
2023 Australian Institute of Architects Sulman Medal for Public Architecture – Winner“
