Woods Bagot Principal and Global Sector Leader for Transport John Prentice says, “It was an honour to present Central Station Metro on the world stage and celebrate our collective achievements — a project that goes beyond transport, blending heritage and innovation to elevate culture, the arts, and architecture.”  

“The new metro and concourse insertions are designed to be purposeful, functional, and sculpturally rich to complement the historic qualities of the original station. Vaulted roofs are inspired by the original terminus station, and the selection of materials, such as engineered sandstone, establishes the proposals into their local context and provides a civic quality to the new station works.”  

“We’re incredibly proud to be a part of a collective, city-shaping project that will have a positive impact on the way people travel through Sydney for generations to come – setting a global benchmark for the way other cities will travel and live in the future.” 

One of the most prestigious architectural award programmes, more than 1,000 projects are entered into the World Architecture Festival each year. This year, six Woods Bagot projects have been recognised across eight different categories.  

Designed by Woods Bagot in collaboration with John McAslan + Partners, Sydney’s Central Station the one-in-100-year renovation of Sydney’s Central Station is set to catalyse future precinct growth. 

The transformation of Central Station to accommodate a state-of-the art metro interchange required the design of spatially and structurally efficient operational segments, with sophisticated, multilevel passenger flow strategies poised to accommodate 450,000 daily passengers. Servicing 96 percent of Sydney’s train services, Central Station forms the backbone of the entire rail network. 

Younghusband – Creative Reuse

The Creative Reuse category celebrates projects that incorporate, adapt and reimagine existing structures for an entirely new purpose – a practice that is central to sustainability and the preservation of embodied energy in existing buildings.

Reimagining 17,000 square metres of industrial heritage, Younghusband adapts a 122-year-old wool store and sundry buildings, transforming it into a vibrant, mixed-use urban village. Using a “light touch” methodology, the design retains much of the existing fabric, creating a contemporary precinct that is highly sustainable and rich in emplaced history.

The jury commended the design team on their integration of public space into the site, opening up a local heritage landmark to the community through porous insertions and a dynamic, activated ground plane.

“You should be commended for not only your streetscape ideas within the space, but your sustainability efforts are just boundless,” one juror remarked. “You’ve done such a careful, thoughtful job of making this building even better than it had always been before, and you’ve kept the fun, too. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.”

Woods Bagot Design Director Peter Miglis says the team is deeply humbled to receive global recognition for a project that has been a labour of love for the Melbourne studio. Since 2016, the team has worked tirelessly with stakeholders, engaging in countless community consultations to achieve the best results for history, sustainability, and community.

“It’s an honour to be recognised alongside the very best in the business,” Miglis. “The WAF name brings credibility, prestige, and recognition, so it’s great to see projects like these that are creatively reusing existing structures celebrated on a world stage. Congratulations to joint venture partners Built., Ivanhoe Cambridge and Irongate Group for their continued pursuit of excellence in design and sustainability outcomes on this project.”

Miglis adds that the project sets new benchmarks for what is possible to achieve with existing structures. “Younghusband is a true exemplar of the benefits to sustainability, community and character that come out of working within existing fabric. This project provides a deep social, environmental, and urban impact through a meaningful adaptive-reuse framework, celebrating the past and ensuring its ongoing relevance into the future.”

Peter Miglis presented before a live jury at World Architecture Festival on Thursday 13 November. The project has also been shortlisted for a second category, “Best Use of Sustainability”, which will be judged on Friday 14 November.

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