Organised by the world’s most influential architecture and design website, the Dezeen Awards is now in its seventh year, representing a benchmark for international design excellence. The awards received 4,130 entries from 82 countries, from which 140 interior projects have been longlisted across 32 countries. 

The Woods Bagot-designed Journey Beyond Gold Premium carriages have been announced as one of 140 interior projects, listed alongside 17 other projects in the “Bar and Restaurant Interiors” category. 

“The carriages convey the beauty and romance long associated with slow travel, with a design response that is deeply contextual to the history and topography of Australia,” says Woods Bagot Principal Rosina Di Maria. “The Gold Premium carriages restore the glamour of transcontinental rail travel that capture a genuine sense of place.” 

The redesign captures the old-world elegance of rail travel, paying homage to the art deco period of the original carriages. Local manufacturers Adelaide Pressed Metals, the original artisans behind the first Queen Adelaide dining car, reproduced the same historic pressed-metal ceiling for the refurbished carriages.  

“The design response is deeply contextual to the history and topography of Australia, referencing the lands across which the train travels and the people who live on it,” adds project leader Bonnie Hamilton.  “Inspired by First Nations landscape artist Albert Namatjira, the interior palette responds to Namatjira’s works, from the silvers of majestic ghost gums to the red tones of the earth.”

The entry is before a panel of leading industry figures, who will assess the project against Dezeen’s rigorous criteria for design excellence. The shortlist will be announced from 7 to 14 November, and winners will be revealed in November at the Dezeen Awards 2024 party.

View the full longlist here.

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Isla Sutherland
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