Town Hall Station, one of five underground stations built as part of Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel, has been named one of the World’s Most Beautiful Stations by the Prix Versailles, an international architecture award recognising outstanding design worldwide.

The station joins a prestigious global shortlist that includes railway stations from Los Angeles, Riyadh, Rome and Lyon, placing Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel project alongside some of the world’s most celebrated contemporary transit infrastructure.

Design by Hassell, RSHP and Weston Williamson + Partners

Town Hall Station’s architectural design was led by Hassell, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Weston Williamson + Partners, creating a striking underground civic space beneath Swanston Street in Melbourne’s central business district, built under City Square.

The station concourse is defined by 8 giant columns designed to evoke tree branches reaching up to hold the canopy above, giving the space its pronounced cathedral-like quality. Platforms sit more than 25 metres below street level and extend 18 metres in width, placing them among the widest underground metro platforms in the world.

The 10-metre high copper-coloured ceiling arches are one of the station’s most distinctive interior elements, featuring chandelier lights designed and manufactured in Melbourne. Together, these elements create a space that balances engineered precision with civic generosity, connecting passengers through a new underground public realm of considerable scale and presence.

About the Prix Versailles

Announced annually at UNESCO since 2015, the Prix Versailles is a series of architectural competitions celebrating outstanding contemporary projects worldwide.

Prix Versailles Secretary General Jérôme Gouadain said the annual list illustrates how excellence in design drives progress in urban environments. “In the realm of transport stations, the stakes are high when it comes to creating cultural expressions that are simultaneously beautiful, fashionable and sustainable, that reinforce passenger mobility whilst revitalising local neighbourhoods, and that support modernisation whilst showing respect for existing architecture,” he said.

Three passenger stations from the 2026 list will receive a further distinction — a Prix Versailles world title, Interior or Exterior — at UNESCO headquarters on Thursday 10 December.

Metro Tunnel context

Town Hall Station is one of five stations delivered as part of the Metro Tunnel project, which opened to passengers in November 2025. The five underground stations — Anzac, Town Hall, State Library, Parkville and Arden — each feature distinctive architectural identities developed for their specific urban locations.

Melbourne’s transit infrastructure has a recent track record with the Prix Versailles. Reservoir and Bell stations, both delivered through the Level Crossing Removal Project, were previously recognised by the award.

Images: Supplied / Metro Tunnel

Architecture & Design Team

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