Sydney’s waterfront enters a new era today with the opening of the new Sydney Fish Market — a transformative development at Blackwattle Bay that redefines how public life and working industry can coexist on the city’s harbour edge.
Delivered by Infrastructure NSW on behalf of the NSW government, the new market sets a benchmark for civic architecture and placemaking.
Designed by 3XN GXN in association with BVN Architecture and landscape architects ASPECT Studios, it establishes the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere and a new 24/7 community hub for Sydney.
Audun Opdal, Senior Partner at 3XN, said the design reimagines an underused harbour precinct into a bustling destination.
“The new Sydney Fish Market is transforming an underutilised harbour area into a vibrant public realm filled with programs that attract both locals and visitors,” said Opdal.
“The fish market uniquely blends a fully functioning commercial operation with high-quality public space, delivering an authentic market experience rooted in the context of its prime waterfront location while enhancing the entire surrounding precinct.”
As the first milestone in the broader urban renewal of Blackwattle Bay, the 10.4-hectare site joins Sydney’s string of renowned harbour landmarks from the Opera House to Barangaroo, expecting to draw six million visitors each year.
BVN Principal Catherine Skinner said the design needed to carry both industrial strength and civic warmth.
“BVN collaborated with 3XN to realise the project’s ambition and develop a building that could carry both the weight of industry and the joy of public life,” said Skinner.
“The project’s location demanded a structure capable of managing salt water and air, humidity, cold-chain logistics and heavy machinery — all while welcoming millions of visitors a year.
“Achieving that balance of opposing pressures shaped every decision that was made.”
Across 12,200 square metres of market hall, visitors can find fishmongers, restaurants, cafés, and specialty retailers arranged around clear circulation paths that separate public flow from working trade.
Expansive glazed facades bring the harbour into the market, creating a lively, open-air feel.
Fred Holt, Partner and Australia Director of 3XN, said the design exposes a once-hidden industry.
“We have turned an introverted industry inside out, putting the back-of-house operations on display and making the theatrics and intense choreography of seafood trading and movement part of the public experience,” said Holt.
“The recognisable SFM blue bins with fish on ice remain at the heart of it all, but now visitors can witness an authentic, behind-the-scenes performance of one of Sydney’s biggest attractions.”
The building’s technical footprint includes 26 lifts across four levels, enabling streamlined logistics, waste diversion of up to 80 per cent, and a 5 Star Green Star rating.
Skinner noted: “This is a deeply technical building, but it never loses sight of its civic role.
“Our job was to reconcile intricate logistics, auction operations and industrial infrastructure with a challenging over-water public location in order to develop an environment that remains generous, intuitive and culturally grounded.”
Crowning the structure, an undulating 20,000 square metre floating roof (composed of glulam timber beams and solar-lined aluminium cassettes) provides shading, natural light and renewable energy.
Lasse Lind, Partner and Head of Consultancy at GXN, said: “We’re redefining what a sustainable market can be.
“This modular roof harvests every raindrop, generates solar power, provides natural ventilation, and enables complete space reconfiguration as needs evolve — reducing potable water use without compromising authenticity or architectural ambition.”
Extensive indigenous plantings restore stormwater habitats, while 3D-printed coral panels and underwater lattice structures revive marine ecosystems beneath the wharf.
The market connects the foreshore walk from Rozelle to Woolloomooloo, offering 6,000 square metres of new public space and grand stairways that link the city to the sea.
Its stepped terraces overlooking Blackwattle Bay invite alfresco dining and social gathering, transforming the working harbour into one of Sydney’s newest civic theatres.
