The new Sydney Metro Crows Nest Station is moving towards practical completion with the opening scheduled for next month. The local community had a first glimpse of their future commute recently during the Crows Nest Station Community Open Day, with over 9,500 people in attendance.

Designed by Woods Bagot, the Crows Nest Station is a masterclass in delivering major infrastructure into village-scaled urban environments. The station is located in an area surrounded by low-rise, detached and semi-detached housing with a distinctly village atmosphere.

“Infrastructure is typically delivered at a completely different scale to our older, historic sub-urban residential communities. The size and scale of the pieces – designed to be craned into place – are quite often not legible at a human scale,” says Woods Bagot principal Lucian Gormley.

“Our design team worked hard to find solutions that responded to the requirement of infrastructure whilst speaking to the historic, village scale, residential aspects of the site.”

The station interiors explore the intersection of community and infrastructure. Precast beams are exposed throughout the paid concourse in a nod to the infrastructural legacy of the site.

The only heritage element recovered during the excavation, a broken Victorian tile, was passed on to the design team for consideration, resulting in a granite floor tile pattern – inspired by the recurring theme of Victorian verandah tiles – across the station’s front-of-house spaces, particularly on the platform to represent “a welcome mat for passengers and locals returning home”.

Artwork

(Left) A hand-glazed geometric tile art installation by Esther Stewart | (Centre) A heritage interpretation delivers a welcome mat for returning customers | (Right) Perforated cladding artwork frames the journey from concourse to platform

The geometric art installation adorning the two station entrances on Pacific Highway and Clarke Street is designed by artist Esther Stewart, with the colourful artwork referencing the heritage of the Crows Nest area and the building elements in handmade coloured glazed tiles.

Interior station lighting has been designed to mimic a more residential environment, and exposed Corten cladding used at a high level on the platform references train infrastructure whilst bringing the warmth of local brickwork down to lower ground.

“The exteriors are a continuation of the exploration between community and infrastructure,” says Gormley. “The modulated brickwork façade system has successfully grounded the building within its local environment and the brick skin has also been used in a multitude of ways to overcome a myriad of design problems.”

The design utilised brick slips within precast panels to facilitate the speed of construction necessary for infrastructure projects.

“When building new infrastructure into a small-scale community, you brace yourself for some negative sentiment. Fortunately, the community response at the community open day was resoundingly positive. From conversations we had with locals on the day, the consensus appeared to be that the station was a fantastic representation of the local identity,” Gormley says.

Crows Nest Station

“Watching this station take form over the last few years to such positive response is really exciting,” says Woods Bagot principal and transport lead John Prentice. “We pride ourselves on the execution of bespoke designs that speak to their locations and create a strong sense of community – which is also evident in the work we have done for Sydney Metro Central Station. Every element and material has ties to the location and history, carrying those stories for generations to come.”

Senior associate Anthony Chow concurs: “Seeing the community response and turnout during the public open day was extremely rewarding. Metro station projects create great opportunities to connect the community, and good design turns them into catalysts for great places. For Crows Nest, we wanted to curate a sense of warmth and tactility through the brickwork while celebrating the infrastructure elements through precast beams and metal cladding – creating a meaningful commute anchored by a strong sense of place.”

Crows Nest Station

Crows Nest Station is set to open as part of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project in August this year.

Images: Woods Bagot

Branko Miletic

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