A new church hall for bible readings and prayer meetings
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) has lodged a Development Application with Parramatta City Council to build a new church hall at 10-12 Pike Street in Rydalmere, New South Wales, Australia.
The proposal includes demolishing the existing warehouses on the site and building a new two-storey building with significant basement and surface car parking.
A new Church hall for Bible readings and prayer meetings
Our project team has designed a 1,903 square metre hall which will usually accommodate around 1,750 people from across Western Sydney, but which can hold up to 3,500 people for Australia wide or even global special events which are held a few times a year.
The proposal features:
A two-storey building with 3,500 seats across the ground floor and gallery level assembly hall, as well as foyers, administration facilities, a meeting room, toilets and a parents room.
Total of 623 car spaces (with about half basement and half surface parking spaces).
A modern exterior façade and materials that are responsive to the local character of the area, including large overhanging eaves, solid aluminium panels, brick, and glazing with powder coated aluminium window frames.
Extensive landscaping along the front and rear of the lot.
A large 45 metre setback from the rear boundary, with a retaining wall and landscaping to integrate with the river foreshore.
Although nestled in the centre of an industrial centre, our goal is to minimise impacts to our neighbouring businesses as much as possible.
It’s beneficial that most of our gatherings will occur on evenings and weekends, which is outside of standard business hours for our neighbours.
Our gatherings generally do not involve any loud singing or amplified music.
Improving the view for cycleway users
We have paid close attention to the interface with Parramatta Cycleway with a goal to improve the view for cyclists, runners and walkers.
The proposal will provide a modern building with lower heights compared to the existing warehouses, it will improve views from the Parramatta River foreshore, and it will create a welcoming space for local members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.
And the building is centrally located within the site, which allows for a 45 metre setback from the rear boundary, with a retaining wall and landscaping to suit the character of the river foreshore.
Flood assessment and mitigation
Like other community facilities along the Parramatta River, such as the new Powerhouse Museum, the new hall will be extensively designed to withstand flood events.
The proposal complies with Council’s extensive flood planning requirements. Key findings in the flood studies lodged as part of the DA include:
The proposed flood characteristics of the development are largely consistent with the existing conditions.
The portion of the site where we want to develop is flood free in a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability Flood (which means you have a 1-in-100 chance that a flood of that size or larger could occur in any one year).
Because the site will only be occupied about 10 per cent of the time and any flood event is likely to impact the site for a short period of time, the Flood Emergency Response Plan says “there is actually an extremely low probability people will be at risk from flooding on site”.
The site will generally only be occupied during church services, with regular weekly events ranging from one to four hours. There will be no permanent ministry or administrative staff on site.
Next steps
Lodging the proposal with Parramatta City Council is the first step in a long process.
The Development Application was lodged with Parramatta City Council in March 2025 and PBCC’s Community Engagement Team has been notifying local stakeholders.
The proposal will be placed on public exhibition by Parramatta City Council, allowing members of the local community to submit feedback.
Should the proposal be approved, we will share more details about construction.
About Us
Established around 200 years ago, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) was founded by John Nelson Darby, one of the most influential Protestant thinkers of the 19th century.
Today, we have just over 54,000 members in our Community. We live in regular homes on ordinary streets, in towns and cities across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North and South America, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.
Our members operate their own businesses, buy houses, shop locally, volunteer and do charitable work, pay taxes and employ many people from both within our Community and outside.
For more information about our church and way of life: