Parramatta Town Hall

Photography Brett Boardman

KEIM Products	Royalan & Faceal Oleo
Applicators	Fine Touch
Architect	TKD Architects
Photographer	Brett Boardman

Parramatta Town Hall is more than a building. It is one of the city’s most recognisable civic landmarks, a place that has hosted community meetings, concerts, celebrations and public life for more than 140 years. Originally opened in 1883, the Town Hall has now been carefully restored and reimagined as part of the wider Parramatta Square transformation, connecting the city’s heritage with its future.

Following a 14-month, $30 million-plus restoration, Parramatta Town Hall reopened to the public in December 2023, marking the final piece in the transformation of Parramatta Square. The renewed building now sits alongside PHIVE, Parramatta’s civic, cultural and community hub, creating a clear dialogue between the original Victorian Free Classical architecture and the contemporary civic precinct around it.

For a project of this significance, the finish needed to do more than look beautiful on completion day. It needed to respect the heritage fabric, support long-term durability and withstand the demands of a busy public environment.

That is where KEIM Royalan and KEIM Faceal Oleo were used.

Photography Brett Boardman

A heritage finish made to last

Parramatta Town Hall’s architectural character is rich in detail, with stuccoed brickwork, deep mouldings, sash windows, grand proportions and a blend of European influences typical of the Victorian Free Classical style.  Restoring a surface like this requires a coating system that enhances the building’s form without masking its material quality.

KEIM Royalan is a mineral silicate paint system developed for exposed locations and challenging climatic conditions. Unlike conventional film-forming coatings, KEIM mineral paints are designed to become part of the mineral substrate, creating a durable, breathable and colour-stable finish. KEIM Royalan is recognised for being vapour-permeable, water-repellent, lightfast and free from solvents and plasticisers.

For Parramatta Town Hall, this made Royalan a fitting choice. The finish supports the building’s heritage character while helping protect it against weathering, UV exposure and the long-term demands of an urban civic setting.

Protection for a public landmark

Heritage buildings are not museum pieces. They are living places that need to be used, enjoyed and maintained.

Parramatta Town Hall now operates as a renewed event venue, with spaces for performances, meetings, cultural events, celebrations, exhibitions and more.  With that renewed public role comes the need for practical protection, particularly at street level and in high-traffic areas.

KEIM Faceal Oleo was used as an anti-graffiti protective finish. Designed for porous mineral surfaces, Faceal Oleo provides long-lasting waterproofing and stain resistance, helping protect against oil, grease and graffiti without altering the surface’s appearance or breathability. It is also free from solvents, extremely low VOC and non-flammable.

This clear protective layer is especially valuable on a building like Parramatta Town Hall, where the visual integrity of the surface matters. The goal is not to create a coating that looks separate from the building, but to protect the architecture without changing its character.

Photography Brett Boardman

Old and new, carefully connected

The restoration was part of a wider civic vision. Parramatta Town Hall now connects directly with PHIVE and Parramatta Square, supported by a new light-filled glass atrium and Southern Terrace. The project brought together DesignInc, Lacoste + Stevenson, Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, TKD Architects and Built, with heritage restoration overseen by TKD Architects.

This careful balance between conservation and contemporary use is what makes the project so compelling. The Town Hall has not been frozen in time. It has been given a renewed civic purpose, with upgraded accessibility, audio-visual systems, lighting, air conditioning, fire protection and facilities, while retaining the heritage fabric that makes it so important to Parramatta.