Six architecture firms have been appointed to design five new stations along the new 24-kilometre Sydney Metro West underground rail line, connecting Greater Parramatta to Sydney’s CBD.
The five-station package covers Westmead, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock and The Bays. The appointed architecture firms include Bates Smart and SAA Architects, John McAslan and Partners, Neeson Murcutt Neille, Stewart Architecture and Aileen Sage Architects.
The broader delivery of the project was awarded in early 2026 to the Metro Vista consortium, led by Gamuda as principal contractor, with Laing O’Rourke and DT Infrastructure as delivery partners. Key design contributors also include Djinjama for design with Country and TCL for landscape design.
Early designs have been released for the five Metro West stations, as well as Hunter Street Station, which forms part of a separate integrated station and precinct development and will serve as the line’s CBD terminus. Lendlease, Mirvac and Coombes Property Group were awarded the contract to design and construct the Hunter Street Station, with FJC Studio involved in the broader precinct design, including the over-station development.
Remaining contracts for the final Sydney Metro West stations at Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park and Pyrmont will be announced by the end of the year.
According to a communique from the New South Wales government, each station will be designed to “speak to the character of the neighbourhood,” creating “welcoming and functional community transport hubs.”
Features of the new Metro West rail line include new driverless technology, wheelchair- and pram-accessible design with level platform access onto trains and platform screen safety doors protecting people and objects from entering the tracks.
Deputy premier of New South Wales and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car said, “For too long Western Sydney communities have taken on the lion’s share of development without much-needed local infrastructure following. Unveiling these brand-new designs means that we’re a step closer to better connecting Western Sydney with the CBD.”
Concurrently, planning is underway for significant housing development around several of the new Metro West stations. The precincts earmarked by the state government for substantial new housing capacity include up to 8,500 new homes at Bays West; 7,300 at Pyrmont; 15,000 at Sydney Olympic Park, and 18,000 each at Burwood North and North Strathfield, with varying affordable housing contributions proposed across the precincts.
The plans also include additional employment opportunities, improved public spaces and active transport links, aimed at supporting higher-density communities along the new rail corridor.
Minister for Transport John Graham said the stations will be more than just places to catch a train. “These will be gateways to their communities and the rest of the Metro West line,” he said.
“We are literally shaping the city with these stations by building tens of thousands of well-located homes around them. This is the public’s first chance to get a sense of how these stations will look.”
The NSW government communique notes Sydney Metro West “will double rail capacity between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, moving 40,000 people an hour in each direction during the morning peak.”
With major tunnelling works now complete, early works will now commence at North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock and The Bays stations this month.
Major station construction is scheduled to commence by the end of the year. Final designs are anticipated to be complete in early 2027, with the Sydney Metro West project targeting a 2032 opening date.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
