Visiting information
What are the contact details for the PDC?
You can contact the PDC via telephone for bookings and general information on (02) 9762 1300, or via email castlehill@phm.gov.au.
What are the opening hours for the PDC?
The opening hours for the PDC are:
10am – 4pm, Tuesday to Friday for booked groups and individuals and selected weekends throughout the year. Please check our events for dates and further information.
Is there an admission fee for the PDC?
There are general admission charges for a visit to the PDC. Booked guided visits and other events incur an additional cost. See Planning your visit for details.
How do I get to the PDC?
Where is the closest parking to the PDC?
What kind of public transport is available for the PDC?
See Planning your visit for details and maps.
Can I visit with a group?
Yes, you can visit with a group–bookings for guided visits are required one to two weeks in advance, depending on the type of the visit, this is also subject to availability. See Booked group visits for details.
Is there a shop or cafe?
There is no retail shop at the Discovery Centre, but there are available a select range of Powerhouse Museum publications and limited merchandise for purchase. A vending machine supplying drinks is available in the foyer at the entrance to the Display Store. There is no dedicated food and beverage facilities on site. Weekday group visit morning tea packages are available and start from $2 per person. Please enquire about morning tea packages at time of booking your group visit.
Is there somewhere in the PDC where we can consume our own food and drink?
The PDC has landscaped public areas that can be used for the consumption of food and drink. Also available, are undercover café tables and chairs outside the entrance to the Display Store, as well as the foyer area of the Display Store.
Is photography permitted in the PDC?
Personal photography is permitted, however professional photography, flash photography and tripods are not permitted. For professional photography requests, please call 02 9762 1300 or email castlehill@phm.gov.au.
What are the regulations for the PDC?
All visitors in booked groups must attend an introductory orientation briefing. For Site Tours and Collection Focus Visits, visitors will be required to wear a fluorescent vest provided.
Do you have parent-care facilities?
Parent-care facilities are located in the disabled toilet in the Display Store.
Who should I call for further information?
You can contact the PDC via telephone for bookings and general information on (02) 9762 1300, or via email castlehill@phm.gov.au.
Access
Are there facilities for disabled visitors?
All stores, including the Display Store, are accessible to visitors with a disability, except upstairs in one building. Disabled toilet facilities are located in the Display Store.
Does the PDC have parking spaces and wheelchair facilities for disabled visitors?
There are three dedicated disabled parking spaces near the entrance to the Display Store, which is available to the public to use on a first come first serve basis. Wheelchairs are avaliable. See Planning your visit for details.
Schools
Do we need to book when we visit the PDC?
Bookings are required at least two weeks in advance and are subject to availability. The school will be invoiced the payment required after the visit. See Booked group visits for details.
Are there lockers available?
Yes, there are lockers available. All large bags must be cloaked on arrival in the lockers provided in the Display Store. No bags will be permitted on visits to other stores.
Is there online information available for teachers?
Find the programs and resources for your class at Education & School Programs.
Volunteers
How do I become a volunteer at the PDC?
See the volunteer section of our website.
Powerhouse Discovery Centre Membership
Does my Powerhouse Museum membership work at the PDC?
Yes—your Powerhouse Museum membership does work at the PDC. The Powerhouse Discovery Centre is part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, also incorporating the Powerhouse Museum and Sydney Observatory.
As a Powerhouse Museum member you receive free entry to the Display Store at the Powerhouse Discovery Centre and discounts for other Discovery Centre programs and events, as well as a host of benefits associated with the Powerhouse Museum at Darling Harbour and Sydney Observatory.
What are the benefits of membership?
Membership gives you many special benefits and means that you support the diversity and excitement of the Powerhouse–and it costs even less per year if you join for longer. For a full list of the benefits to becoming a member, see our Membership benefits list.
How much does it cost to become a member?
For the full range of membership categories available, see our Membership categories list.
How do I join or renew my membership?
Becoming a Powerhouse Museum member or renewing your membership is easy. Choose from one of the options from our how to join list.
Collection
How many objects are housed in the PDC?
There are around 50,000 objects stored in the Powerhouse Discovery Centre.
What is the oldest object?
Depending on how age is measured it would be either an ancient meteorite , found in 1889 in Gilgoin near Brewarrina, New South Wales or small bronze sculptures of Hindu deities made in India in the 1600s.
What is the biggest object?
A full-size John Fowler & Co. steam ploughing engine built in 1889 and weighing around 22 tonnes.
What is the smallest object?
Sterling silver and glass ants from a trinket box titled 'Ants Nest' designed by Angiolo Logi in 1984 and made by Puzzle Pty Ltd in Australia in 1993 (h10mm x w17mm).
What is the PDC manager's favourite object?
A mouse/rat trap making machine by Standfield and Co, Mascot, which produced about 96 million traps in the 1940s; and a tram hearse built in Sydney in 1896 and use in Newcastle on the line to Sandgate Cemetery.
What is the most significant object?
One of the the most significant objects is first tram (steam) to operate in New South Wales in 1879, carrying visitors between Redfern and the Domain for the Sydney International Exhibition. It was only supposed to operate for the 6-month duration of the Exhibition, however it was so efficient and so popular that an extension to Randwick was opened the following year. The success of the Sydney International Exhibition directly led to the founding of what today is the Powerhouse Museum.
What is the largest single collection of objects?
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games collection is the largest, with 1487 objects preserved from the Games.
Why is everything in the collection not on display?
The Museum’s primary concern is for the long term preservation of the collection. Some objects, particularly paper and textiles, are particularly susceptible to damage from exposure to light and temperature variations which means they cannot be on display all the time. Other larger objects cannot always be on display due to space restrictions. The Museum has a program of changing exhibitions which means that objects from the collection are selected for display to illustrate particular themes. Like most large museums in Australia and overseas the Powerhouse Museum has between three and five per cent of its collection on display at any one time. With the opening of the PDC, we have greatly extended public access to the collection as well as to information about individual objects and, about how we care for the collection.
Can I see objects that are not on display?
Generally stored objects from the collection may be viewed on special themed tours by arrangement with the Powerhouse Discovery Centre. Please be aware that some objects are stored at the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo.
How does the Museum acquire objects?
Our collection development policy determines what we acquire for the Museum’s collection. The Museum needs to be strategic in adding to the collection and objects are acquired with the intention of being preserved in perpetuity. The costs involved in acquiring, storing and caring for objects means we must be certain that new acquisitions do not duplicate objects already in the collection and are significant additions to it.
How do I donate objects to the Powerhouse Museum, or see if the Museum is interested in purchasing objects from my collection?
Contact the curatorial staff at the Powerhouse Museum on (tel) 02 9217 0415 or use the Museum's online contact form. Acquisitions can only be made in line with the Museum's collection development policy.
My family donated an object to the Museum—how can I find out about it?
Search for your object of interest on the Museum’s online collection database, which includes a large proportion of objects collected from 1880 to the present day. If you cannot find the object that you are looking for via the online database, please submit a query using the Museum's online contact form.
I have information about an object—how do I pass the information on?
If you have information about an object in the Museum's collection please use the Museum's online contact form to inform curatorial staff.
How can I support the Powerhouse Museum’s collection and its preservation?
Tax deductible donations can be made to the Powerhouse Foundation to support acquisitions for the collection and conservation projects. Please phone the Foundation office on 02 9217 0564.
Mailing lists
How can I get my name on the postal mailing list?
Email your details to castlehill@phm.gov.au and request to be added to the mailing list.