Keep up the ambition, says Metro architect
by Matthew Drummond 

For all of John McAslan's enthusiasm for Sydney's new metro, two stations of which were designed by his architecture firm, he's particularly proud of the archway at the base of the heritage building that forms part of the new concourse at Central Station.

The London-headquartered McAslan + Partners came into the orbit of the $2L6 billion Sydney Metro because Laing O'Rourke was bidding to build parts of it; the construction firm had worked with McAslan on his acclaimed 2012 redesign of London's King's Cross station.

"The proposed entrance to the concourse at Central was a rectangle, which was kind of boring," McAslan says. "So we thought why don't we try an arch that references the historic vaults that are a feature of the exterior? We told Laing O'Rourke that we wouldn't charge them a fee for redesigning it, and they built it. That's been the beauty of this project, I would never have been able to do something like that in London. You'd have had endless variations as you deal with all the rail companies."

Sydneysiders are still getting their heads around their grand new subterranean stations, which opened on August 19 – some 1.4 million trips were taken in the first week The stations' scale and expense – brass fittings to mark where metro doors open, futuristic cladding – has been a welcome surprise in a city that is better known for its Rich List developers than its architects.

When asked of his impressions of the new stations, McAslan responds in Latin – "firmitas, utilitas et venustas" – an edict given by Roman architect Vitruvius in the 1st century which translates to the desirability of buildings that, first of all, keep standing, are useful and are also beautiful to look at. "I think what you have here in the metro is delight, its truly beautiful," he tells The Australian Financial Review, gesturing around the Waterloo station his firm designed. "And that's because you've got the ambition. You've had really good architects, a good contractor, a proper budget, proper reviews, and a client – in Sydney Metro – all with ambition."

He contrasts Sydney Metro's comparatively smooth genesis with that of London's £18 billion Elizabeth Line, for which McAslan + Partners designed the station at Bond Street. "That project began in the 1990s. Sydney Metro was so fast It was done in under a decade." 

The ambition that chiselled the metro underneath Sydney should now be directed towards what happens above its stations, he says. The precinct around the Waterloo Metro is earmarked for a mixed use, including 700 units, of which 20 per cent will be social housing. The space directly above the station has been set aside for an office tower.

But McAslan says, given the heightened demand for housing and lower demand for office space, it might require a rethink. Disused office towers around North Sydney's new metro station could also be repurposed into different uses, including housing – as is being discussed for a large office tower in London's Canary Wharf from which HSBC is moving out.

Staying on the topic of reusing existing buildings, McAslan says he's particularly proud of his work at both Kings Cross in London and at Central. For many Sydneysiders, the new concourse, which opened in May 2023 and was co-designed by Woods Bagot, is possibly a favourite feature on the mega project.

"It takes something that was on its knees, like King's Cross in London. And you strip it all away, you've got a new work with what existed," McAslan says.
"It probably resonates with people because they remember the old station, and they just notice it sort of works differently." 

The Australian Financial Review
Friday 30 August 2024
www.afr.com

image: Dominic Lorrimer