The scale of the new Sydney Fish Market is truly impressive. The facility spans more than 26,000 square metres, making it the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere. A major seafood trading centre, the market with its dining and retail offerings aims to be a leading tourist attraction capable of drawing around six million visitors annually.
Designed by 3XN GXN Architects, in association with BVN Architecture and ASPECT Studios, the market stands on 481 marine piles and has a 20,000-square metre roof with a 200-metre canopy made of over 400 roof cassettes and 594 glulam timber beams delivered by barge from Glebe Island. The roof’s design facilitates rainwater collection for recycling and helps reduce the building’s energy consumption via solar panels.
Late last year, CBRE confirmed that it had been appointed as the facilities manager for the new market. Here, Peter Powell, director for Technical Services at CBRE, explains what it takes to keep the market in top shape.
Sydney Fish Market. Image credit: Rasmus Hjortshoj
Facility Management: What is the scale of operations that CBRE oversees at the Sydney Fish Market?
Peter Powell: The new Sydney Fish Market is one of the most complex operational assets in the country. From a services
perspective, we are managing a highly integrated environment that combines heavy industrial refrigeration, large-scale food handling, public retail, hospitality, offices and major public realm spaces – all within a single, waterfront structure.
The asset includes high-voltage electrical infrastructure, central ammonia refrigeration and brine systems, large cooling tower and boiler plants, sophisticated hydraulics including trade waste and wastewater treatment, advanced fire engineering solutions, integrated security and ICT networks, and extensive vertical transport. When you consider the site-wide refrigeration loads, ice production, wastewater volumes and the expectations around uptime, it is significantly more complex than a typical commercial building.
What does a ‘typical day’ look like managing a site as complex and high-profile as this?
There really isn’t a ‘typical day’ with each day bringing unique challenges for the team. Activity starts in the very early hours around 1am, with auction and wholesale operations, live seafood handling and logistics taking place in our dual-use basement car park long before public trading commences.
A facility manager’s day starts with ensuring all critical systems are operating within their defined design parameters, particularly refrigeration, power, hydraulics and security. That’s supported by constant monitoring through the building management systems (BMS), refrigeration supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and the energy management platform.
Throughout the day, the team is coordinating with tenants, responding to operational needs, managing compliance and
maintaining a strong safety and hygiene focus.
Overlaying that is the public‑facing aspect: ensuring amenities, presentation and accessibility are maintained across a very visible civic destination that is open until 10pm on weekdays and midnight each weekend.
A fish market needs high-performing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and wastewater management systems. What are some of the unique challenges and innovations applied to this property?
The HVAC and refrigeration solution is absolutely central to how the market functions. The building uses a central ammonia refrigeration plant with temper brine and chilled water secondary circuits, enabling multiple temperature regimes – freezers at −22 degrees Celsius, cool rooms at one degree Celsius, wholesale common areas at 14 degrees Celsius, HVAC with eight cooling towers and 17 individual ice-making systems among many others to be served efficiently and resiliently from a single centralised plant.
From an operational standpoint, that design introduces additional responsibility. Ammonia management is governed by documented hazard and operability (HAZOP) outcomes, emergency response planning and ongoing compliance with dangerous goods requirements, all of which form part of the ongoing management obligations.
Hydraulically, the project goes far beyond a standard commercial building. The facility includes separate dissolved air
flotation (DAF) systems for greasy waste and trade waste, together with a 150 kilolitre per day wastewater treatment and reuse plant.
Treated water is reused for cooling towers, amenities, wash-down and irrigation, which substantially reduces potable water demand, but requires in-depth maintenance and monitoring to sustain performance and approval to operate.
Image credit: Grainger Films
Sustainability features like solar and rainwater systems are significant value-additions, but what are the realities of managing and maintaining these over a period of time?
The reality is that sustainability systems only deliver value if they are well integrated into operations. At Sydney Fish Market, systems such as the integrated 254KW solar PV array which produces 350 MWh per year, symphonic rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse are all fully monitored through the energy management system (EMS). That enables the facility management team to track performance, identify issues early and ensure systems are operating as intended in real time.
However, these systems also introduce critical operational obligations, specialist maintenance regimes, data validation and strict adherence to the original design intent to maintain both warranties and Green Star performance objectives. Sustainability here is not a widget, it’s embedded into daily operational decision-making, from plant optimisation through to cleaning methodologies and water-use controls.
The site brings together wholesalers, retailers, hospitality operators and public visitors. How do you balance this
diverse group of stakeholders under a single operational and safety framework?
The key is having a robust but flexible operational framework. Core systems such as security, access control, CCTV, fire systems and vertical transport are centrally managed, while stakeholder interfaces are clearly defined. The team have spent significant time working with stakeholders to align expectations within their new home at Sydney Fish Market, whether that’s wholesale refrigeration temperatures, retail kitchen exhaust systems, logistics operations or security protocols. A lot of work occurs behind the scenes to prevent small changes from creating unintended consequences. For example, changes to storage space configurations or alterations to building services can all compromise fire engineering solutions, food safety compliance or public safety.
As a flagship public asset for Sydney, how do you manage the expectations of government, tenants and the public when it comes to uptime, presentation and long-term asset performance?
Resilience, data and governance are key. The building has been designed with redundancy in critical systems, power, refrigeration and fire services. That resilience only delivers value if it’s maintained and operated correctly.
CBRE uses real-time operational data from the BMS and EMS to prioritise maintenance, manage risk and inform life cycle planning.
At the same time, the market must function as a welcoming destination for Sydneysiders and international visitors alike, which means high presentation standards and public safety carry equal weight to technical performance.
Long-term performance here isn’t achieved through reactive maintenance, it’s achieved by respecting the original design assumptions and proactively managing the building in accordance with them.
Underneath the building, there are seawall tiles, coral panels and hanging fish habitats installed to support marine life. What is being done to preserve those assets?
Those marine installations are treated as integral parts of the asset, not decorative features. From a facilities management perspective, that means ensuring access, inspection and maintenance activities do not compromise them.
Works near the seawall are carefully controlled, and any interface with marine structures is coordinated with the relevant
authorities and specialists. Ongoing monitoring regimes and management plans are in place to ensure impacts on local wildlife populations are controlled. It’s a reminder that this project extends beyond the building itself into the surrounding environment and operational decisions inside the building can have environmental consequences outside it.
Image credit: Grainger Films
How does this market integrate building management systems and smart technologies?
The market has been designed as a truly integrated asset. All major systems – mechanical, refrigeration, fire interfaces,
electrical metering, hydraulics, lighting, security and vertical transport – are integrated into an integrated communications network (ICN) and open-protocol BMS and EMS platforms. These systems don’t replace operational judgement, but they provide the data needed to make informed, timely decisions.
Whether it’s monitoring refrigeration performance, managing peak electrical demand, monitoring population densities, validating wash-down impacts or tracking energy use, the technology provides transparency and accountability across a very complex asset.
If another Australian facility manager were to take on a similarly complex, mixed-use public asset, what advice would you give them?
My advice would be to get involved early and stay involved. Understanding the design intent, performance solutions and operational assumptions embedded in the building is invaluable once it’s live.
Second, invest in data and documentation. This building demonstrates that a good BMS, EMS and structured handover process are essential, but only if they’re actively used and kept current.
Finally, never underestimate the importance of operational discipline. Buildings like this don’t fail because of singular faults; they fail when small deviations from design intent accumulate over time.
What’s been the most rewarding moment for you and your team thus far?
Seeing a project of this complexity transition from construction and commissioning into a functioning, living asset has been incredibly rewarding.
When the building services, public spaces and wholesale operations all run in harmony, and you know the governance, documentation and operational foundations are in place to support the building for decades, that’s when the huge effort from the entire delivery and operations team really pays off.
This article first appeared in the May 2026 edition of FM magazine. To download the entire edition for free, click here.
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