The newly opened Designed by John McAslan and Partners, Sydney Metro’s Waterloo Station features a design that celebrates Waterloo’s diverse history, including its First Nations and industrial heritage.
The three-level station, which opened on Monday 19 August 2024, is part of the Sydney Metro City Line and will serve high-frequency, driverless trains arriving at the station every four minutes during peak periods.
Troy Uleman, director of John McAslan and Partners (JMP), said the design creates a connection to the site. At the station’s platform level, the design references the ancient heritage, while at street level it reflects Waterloo in its post-colonial state.
“Waterloo is a dynamic, multicultural community with a rich Indigenous, social and industrial history,” said Uleman. “Through consultation with the Yerrabingin Indigenous advisors, we learned the phrase ‘The past is in the earth and the future is in the sky.’ This became the conceptual framework for our design, which takes passengers on a journey shaped by Waterloo’s multi-layered heritage.”
As passengers enter the concourse, they are greeted by a 9.7 metre tall image of a young local Indigenous dancer named Roscoe. This artwork by Australian Indigenous artist Nicole Monks celebrates the vibrant and thriving culture of the First Nations. Also on the concourse level is a perforated panel depicting the endemic Banksia bush.
The southern station box connects to the square with a perforated aluminium facade covered with an image taken from early maps of Waterloo when it was still marshland. At the underground platform level, rust-coloured wall cladding displays abstract images of a stone blade fragment, in reference to a fragment discovered during archaeological excavations at the site.
“Working with artists and design consultants, the incorporation of Indigenous themes anchors the station in the region’s long history while symbolizing a robust future for the nation’s First Nations people,” Uleman said. “I can’t imagine Waterloo without Roscoe, that great, smiling, friendly boy who tells us the future is bright.”
In the street-level entrance hall, materials and textures pay homage to the suburb’s architectural history. This space features an aluminum coffered ceiling and granite floor.
