Redfern Station claimed the Lord Mayor’s Prize for Public Architecture, Creative Adaptation for Heritage and two commendations while Parramatta Town Hall received a commendation at this year’s Australian Institute of Architects NSW Awards.
DesignInc Sydney projects’ Redfern Station and Parramatta Town Hall have received multiple honours at the 2024 Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) NSW Awards, including three commendations and two awards—among them the heralded Lord Mayor’s Prize for Design Excellence.
Major transport project Redfern Station was the recipient of the City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Prize (City of Sydney catchment only), the Creative Adaptation Award for Heritage and dual commendations in Public Architecture and Urban Design categories respectively.
Parramatta Town Hall (DesignInc Sydney, Lacoste+Stevenson, Manuelle Gautrand Architecture and TKD Architects) received a Conservation Commendation for Heritage Architecture.
Mary Anne McGirr, DesignInc Sydney Director and Transport Sector Lead, said:
‘Community infrastructure projects like Redfern Station and Parrmatta Town Hall are central to the function, health and success of our cities and places. Whether it’s providing more sustainable transport connections for people, or adapting old materials or form for a renewed purpose—it’s fantastic to see how years of engagement, design and detail culminate in the outcomes we see today.
‘The practice and our respective project teams are incredibly proud to be recognised for these achievements—which become even more special considering the quality and quantity of design present in this year’s entries.’
DesignInc received the following accolades:
[Redfern Station] provides a welcoming and positive experience for residents and workers which sets a high bar for other infrastructure projects. It embraces a level of integration and design with the surrounds needed by this once-in-a-generation infrastructure project. I’d like to congratulate the team of DesignInc and Transport for NSW.
Jury Citation
Read by Councillor Clover Moore—Lord Mayor, City of Sydney at the awards ceremony
Redfern Station Upgrade | Gadigal
Located on Gadigal land, Redfern Station is Sydney’s fifth busiest train station—a heritage-listed, 140-year-old critical piece of urban infrastructure responsible for 46,000 commuters daily.
DesignInc was engaged to provide urban design, landscape and architectural services for a scheme that provides universal and safe access to, from and through the station precinct. A new southern concourse and station entries at Little Eveleigh and Marian Streets headline the development, celebrating the locale’s rich natural, cultural and built heritage context. Redfern Station was upgraded as part of the NSW Government’s Transport Access Program (TAP) led by Transport for NSW.
The Lord Mayor’s Prize jury citation read: ‘The upgrade of Redfern station delivers not only a highly functional solution to the need for universal access to the fifth-busiest station on [Sydney’s] network, but it provides a welcoming and positive experience which sets a bar for other transport infrastructure projects.’
NSW Creative Adaptation Award for Heritage jury citation read: The State Heritage Listed Redfern Station Group, opened in 1884 as a collection of brick and stone structures, is associated with engineer in chief of the NSW Railways, John Whitton, and was originally served by the Eveleigh Railway Workshops and nearby residences. The new southern concourse entries at Marion and Little Eveleigh Streets demonstrate thoughtful and substantial interpretation of context by references to historiological users of the site including First Nations pre settlement ecology and 20th Century industry, transport, and engineering themes by interpreting both wetland mists and steam motifs through a continuous perforated veil canopy.
Recipient of:
Parramatta Town Hall | Dharug
The restored Parramatta Town Hall is an embodiment of sensitivity and modernity. Its second instalment, re-opened 140 years after its inception in 1883, remains true to its purpose as a key gathering space for the community. DesignInc’s approach, developed in close consultation with the City of Parramatta Council, balances the site’s history with the requirements of a contemporary, fit-for-purpose entertainment venue. The core objective was to restore the Town Hall buildings, refurbished for renewed purpose.
Recipient of:
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