The redevelopment of the Sydney Fish Market has delivered one of the city’s most significant architectural and civic projects. Situated at the edge of Blackwattle Bay, the new Sydney Fish Market is both an industrial hub and a public destination. Its design extends the harbour network and integrates seamlessly into Sydney’s broader waterfront domain. While its primary operations are industrial in nature, the project remains firmly committed to human scale, fine-grain detail, and accessibility within the city’s fabric
Designed by Danish architecture studio 3XN, working in collaboration with BVN, GXN Innovation, and landscape architects Aspect Studios, the new market has been planned as both a functional hub for Australia’s seafood industry and a public destination on the waterfront.
Sydney Fish Market’s Wave-Inspired Roof Structure Reaches Completion
The new Sydney Fish Market has achieved a major milestone with the installation of the final roof panel, completing the building’s 200-metre-long floating canopy. Inspired by the natural rhythm of waves and the surrounding harbour context, the roof’s geometry establishes a continuous and unifying presence across the market. The roof is the market’s most iconic element, composed of 594 timber beams and 400 aluminum pyramidal cassettes, creating a distinctive scaly appearance.
The timber-and-aluminum roof sits above the building, bringing together its different spaces in one flowing design and highlighting its presence along Sydney Harbour. Shaped to match the needs of the areas, the roof rises and dips across the structure. It also supports sustainability by providing shading, natural light, ventilation, rainwater harvesting, and the potential to generate solar energy.
By night, the roof serves as a glowing focal point for the city. A kinetic lighting installation, one of the largest of its kind in Sydney, animates the canopy with programmable LED sequences, creating moving ribbons of light across the harbour skyline.
Each of the 400 shell-like roof panels incorporates advanced lighting technology, allowing the canopy to function as a dynamic display that will be activated during special events. Extending 200 metres along the harbour’s edge, the installation is powered by more than four kilometres of cabling. A recent full-scale test performance demonstrated the system’s capability, confirming that the feature is fully operational and ready to deliver large-scale light shows.
Six Functions Within a Single Roof
The roof of the new Sydney Fish Market is the central architectural and environmental element of the design. Designed as a holistically sustainable system, it integrates performance and expression through a modular unit, the cassette.
Each cassette is geometrically optimised to reflect natural light into interior spaces while mitigating direct solar gain. Select modules remain permeable to facilitate natural ventilation by harnessing pressure differentials. Additionally, the cassettes incorporate an integrated drainage network to channel and harvest rainwater. Their modular construction logic ensures assembly efficiency and provides adaptability for future maintenance and replacement.
Spatial Organisation and Market Functionality
The building is arranged to accommodate both wholesale and retail seafood operations, public food courts, restaurants, education spaces, and event areas. The roof ties these diverse functions together, providing a consistent spatial identity. The market halls are characterized by open-plan layouts, designed for efficiency of trade and flexibility of use. Skylights in the canopy ensure produce is displayed in natural light conditions, enhancing both the quality of the visitor experience and energy efficiency.
The modular system’s flexibility allows spaces to overlap, reconfigure, and transform, creating varied zones that support multiple operations within a single roof structure. The building operates as a responsive structure that can adjust to the present and future needs of its stakeholders and user groups.
Generous circulation routes, outdoor terraces, and boardwalks expand the project beyond its core function as a market, making it a cultural and recreational destination for Sydney residents and visitors alike.
Transforming Sydney Harbour: Fish Market Waterfront and Public Realm
The project extends beyond the building itself to redefine the public interface with Blackwattle Bay. A continuous waterfront boardwalk, landscaped plazas, and stepped seating areas create new vantage points over the harbour. The roof canopy visually extends to cover these spaces, emphasizing the project’s role as both a civic place and a commercial hub. The public realm strategy promotes year-round activity, encompassing market trading, festivals, community events, and everyday leisure pursuits.
According to the NSW Government, the new Sydney Fish Market roof is set to be a spectacular addition to Sydney Harbour and will establish the market as a world-class destination for both locals and visitors.
The new Sydney Fish Market roof canopy serves as both an industrial and a civic landmark, re-establishing connections between the city and the harbour.
New Sydney Fish Market Project Details
Location: Blackwattle Bay, Sydney, Australia
Project Name: Sydney Fish Market Redevelopment
Client/Developer: New South Wales Government, Infrastructure NSW
Architects: 3XN (Denmark) in collaboration with BVN (Australia)
Design Partners: GXN Innovation and Aspect Studios
Project Type: Public Market, Waterfront Redevelopment, Civic Architecture
Status: Completed and opened in 2025
Image: © Multiplex Construction/Renders by 3XN
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