Sydney's Fish Market will undergo a $250 million expansion designed by the renowned Danish firm 3XN. As part of the city's plan to revitalize the harbor, the iconic attraction will be relocated to Blackwattle Bay, where it will provide greater public access to the city's prime waterfront.

Currently, the Sydney Fish Market brings in more annual visitors than the Great Barrier Reef and accounts for more than 20% of international visitors to the Sydney area. The new cultural facility will help the attraction become more community oriented, providing improved public space, dining options, and transport connectivity.

The upgraded market will host a seafood cooking school, restaurants, bars, new public wharves, a waterfront promenade, and a new ferry stop. Working with with local architect BVN, GXN Innovation, and landscape architect Aspect Studios, the project will also provide improved facilities for the city's fishers and fishmongers, as the original center was beginning to show signs of aging. 

"Preserving the authentic market feel is a key objective of this new building," says the architects. Inspired by the traditional market archetype, the design is comprised by a series of stalls, covered by a single sweeping canopy made from timber and aluminum and resembling fish scales.

Environmental and social sustainability has also been essential to the project. What will become the building's iconic roof, has been designed to harvest rainwater for reuse, protect retail space from the sun, filter daylight, and minimize the need for conditioned air. Another example is the projects bio-filtration system, which has been designed to act as a protective habitat for local birds while filtering water run-off.

“This building will be many things when it is done," explains Kim Herforth Nielsen, Founding Partner of 3XN. Expected to complete in 2023, the new facility will be "a working fish market, an amenity for the city, a cultural destination, an urban connector, and an inspiring icon along the world-renowned Sydney Harbor."