---
title: Western Australia Museum Boola Bardip – Australia
url: "https://www.systra.com/en/projects/western-australia-museum-boola-bardip-australia/"
type: projects
date_published: 2026-10-14
date_modified: 2026-10-14
schema:
  @type: WebPage
language: en-US
word_count: 409
reading_time: 3 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/en/projects/western-australia-museum-boola-bardip-australia/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wa-museum-boola-bardip-australia-1.jpg"
project-market:
  - Buildings
  - Adaptive Re-Use
  - "Leisure: Hotels, Retail and Stadia"
project-service:
  - Design
project-location:
  - Australia
---

# Western Australia Museum Boola Bardip – Australia

![Western Australia Museum Boola Bardip – Australia](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/wa-museum-boola-bardip-australia-1.jpg)

**BG&E, now part of SYSTRA, delivered structural and civil engineering services for WA Museum Boola Bardip, a 19,000 sq m museum integrated within the Perth Cultural Centre that connects contemporary architecture with five heritage-listed buildings, linking them together for the first time in the museum’s history.**

## 󠀁**A structure elevated above heritage fabric**󠁿 

The name Boola Bardip, meaning “many stories” in Whadjuk Nyoongar, reflects the
museum’s connection to the First Nations history of the land on which it stands.

The design creates large column-free gallery spaces elevated 15 metres above
ground and extends over an existing heritage building, while keeping a 40 by 50
metre pedestrian area clear below. The museum houses eight exhibition galleries
providing around 7,000 sq m of gallery space, including a 1,000 sq m special
exhibition gallery.

## 󠀁**Structural engineering for large column-free spaces**󠁿

The gallery floors were designed to accommodate demanding exhibition loads while
meeting stringent deflection and vibration criteria. Composite steel floors span
20 metres between two major fabricated steel trusses, each two storeys high.
These trusses span up to 45 metres and form a 17-metre cantilever where the new
building extends over the existing heritage structure.

High-strength steel was used to minimise the overall steel tonnage, while
reinforced concrete and composite steel-concrete columns complete the structural
system.

## RECOGNITION

The project received the **George Temple Poole Award**, the top prize at the
2021 Australian Institute of Architects WA Architecture Awards, alongside the
**John Septimus Roe Award for Urban Design** and the
**Jeffrey Howlett Award for Public Architecture**.

Construction awards include the 2
**020 Australian Construction Achievement Award** and three
**Master Builders Association Excellence in Construction Awards**, recognising
best public use building, best historic restoration and best government
building.

## Snapshots from WA Museum Boola Bardip

Some examples of projects in Buildings, Adaptive Re-Use, Leisure: Hotels, Retail
and Stadia, Design

[  Merchant House at 333 Kent Street – Australia ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/merchant-house-at-333-kent-street-australia/)
[  Rosebery Engine Yards – Australia ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/rosebery-engine-yards-australia/)
[  Blue at Lavender Bay – Australia ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/blue-at-lavender-bay-australia/)
[  Quay Quarter Tower – Australia ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/quay-quarter-tower-australia/)
[  Villemur-sur-Tarn School Complex – France  ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/villemur-sur-tarn-school-complex-france/)
[  Taranto station multimodal interchange -Italy ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/taranto-station-multimodal-interchange-italy/)

[ See a selection of SYSTRA's projects ](https://www.systra.com/en/our-projects/)