As part of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project, a rapid transit railway project currently being built in Sydney, global firm Woods Bagot and London-based architecture firm John McAslan + Partners (JMP) have been chosen to revive the Sydney Metro’s Central Station. The 112-year-old site is a stalwart component of the $20 billion initiative and is regarded as a local icon. The two teams plan to preserve the historical qualities that are beloved by its commuters while integrating new elements that amplify its functionality, cultural standing and ability to manage large amounts of movement and people.
Currently, more than 250,000 people pass through the station every day. However, that number is expected to grow up to 450,000 in the next twenty years.
Each firm is thoroughly experienced in transportation projects. JMP is responsible for the restoration of London’s King’s Cross Station, a 170-year-old station that is one of the busiest for the city’s transit system, as well as the concourse addition that now serves up to 150,000 per day. Most recently, Woods Bagot transformed Sydney’s Wynyard Walk, a commuter link marked by a clam shell-shaped awning that both welcomes commuters to the Wynyard Station and releases them into the city to Barangaroo to the waterfront—which now only takes six minutes to walk to instead of the previous 15 before the Sydney studio’s architectural intervention.
Taking lessons learned from these projects, the multidisciplinary team plans to upgrade the main concourse, integrate a 19-meter-wide tunnel from Central Walk to Chalmers Street, establish the public area between the new metro and the existing station, improve the metro box platforms, and build in escalators.