Urban Infrastructure | Architecture Hunter Webinar Jul/26

Main ideas & concepts

• Infrastructure deserves attention

  • The webinar argues that the spaces and systems that make cities work are often overlooked compared to landmark buildings.
  • The most inspiring infrastructure is not just technical problem-solving; it becomes a place people want to experience, helping cities feel more human.

• Theme of “urban infrastructure”

  • Infrastructure can be transformative by:
    • Restoring nature
    • Reconnecting neighborhoods
    • Strengthening communities
    • Producing emotionally engaging, human-centered public life

• Two complementary perspectives on infrastructure/architecture

  • John Prentice presents infrastructure that is “beyond transport”: a station as cultural/heritage/art experience.
  • Gilma Durik emphasizes a duality:
    • Designing infrastructure as architecture
    • Designing architecture as infrastructure
  • In his view, the key is connection, permeability, safety, and elegance—not just throughput.

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Methodologies / “how they design” (detailed bullets)

A) John Prentice (Sydney Central Station, Woods Bagot) — approach & tactics

• Frame the project as more than transport

  • Position Central Station as:
    • A gateway to Sydney
    • A catalyst for precinct regeneration (including “Tech Central”)
    • A legacy of respecting heritage while enabling future capacity and clarity

• Define performance objectives early

  • The government brief is distilled into four objectives (as described in the talk).
  • Key requirement: elevate and reconnect the station while:
    • Handling extreme passenger demand growth
    • Improving circulation and wayfinding

• Re-imagine circulation to fix degraded historic complexity

  • Identify how incremental past upgrades created:
    • Compressed concourses
    • Compromised sight lines
    • A confusing tunnel “maze”
    • Poor neighborhood connectivity (turning the station into a “blockage”)
  • Strategy:
    • Insert metro intervention to reconnect city and suburbs
    • Create clear, intuitive circulation routes
    • Increase capacity (from high existing demand to ~450,000 passengers/day)

• Use heritage as an anchor for new architecture

  • Preserve and celebrate what’s valuable in the heritage fabric
  • Remove or replace elements that are confusing/dingy/dark or interfere with major infrastructure insertion
  • Derive design “language” from existing site features (viaducts, bridges, archways)

• Design for intuitive wayfinding through consistent architectural logic

  • Make underground arrivals legible through:
    • Scale, materiality, and consistent architectural design
    • Panel systems inspired by existing sandstone materiality and timekeeping heritage
  • Create a “joyful” connection to heritage rather than purely functional signage/controls

• Advanced material + computational design strategy for aesthetics, acoustics, and performance

  • Wall cladding:
    • Inspired by historic sandstone characteristics
    • Engineered alternative: glass-reinforced concrete
    • Four color tones to mimic sandstone oxidization (depth/variety)
  • Panel system:
    • ~7,000 panels installed
    • Custom scripting to:
      • Manage complexity of design, coordination, distribution
      • Randomize panel placement to avoid an “obvious” repeating pattern
    • Panel geometry designed for both aesthetic rhythm and acoustic performance
  • Natural light management:
    • Glass floors and skylight strategies to reduce “underground anxiety”

• Integrate public art as part of the station’s spatial and emotional system

  • Collaborate with artist Rose Nolan for an artwork that:
    • Uses floor graphics as metaphor (track-and-field framing)
    • Embeds well-being messaging
    • Avoids confusing wayfinding by using pure geometries
    • Includes physical elements integrated into the station’s design/fabrication

• Integrate Aboriginal heritage through large architectural surfaces

  • Collaborate with Dr. Bronwin/Bronwen Braftoft (“time travelers” artwork)
  • Strategy:
    • Treat back-of-house structures as a canvas
    • Use a subtle “pixel-like” brick approach rather than a conventional mural
    • Model and schedule ~56,000 bricks individually using coding to define orientation/color
    • Result changes with sunlight from platform and train views

• Treat archaeology and historical layers as public experience

  • During metro works, uncover graves and artifacts
  • Create a dedicated interpretive space:
    • Translate a historical map onto a perforated metal screen
    • Add digital displays (maps, images, texts, archival scans)
    • Position artifacts in relation to where they were found
    • Prototype details to achieve an “intimate museum-quality” experience inside a busy station

• Sustainability: measured achievements and design decisions

  • Reference sustainability performance highlights:
    • Six Star Green Star rating (Green Building Council of Australia)
    • Highest level leading rating from Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia
  • Specific initiatives mentioned:
    • Adaptive reuse
    • Natural light to reduce reliance on artificial lighting
    • 38% reduction in concrete
    • Modern methods of construction / off-site prefabrication
    • 100% offset of operational energy
    • Solar panels on canopies
    • Integration of all modes of transport

• Maintain operations during construction using logistics + modularization

  • Keep station operational by using off-site prefabrication
  • Example:
    • Entire northern concourse roof built offsite
    • Prototype testing completed before installation
    • Logistics designed for evening delivery to minimize congestion
  • Structural innovation to reduce material and improve spatial openness

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B) Gilma Durik (Zurich infrastructure and Vortex student residence) — approach & tactics

• Work with “infrastructure as architecture” and “architecture as infrastructure”

  • Use architecture to structure movement, public life, and networks
  • Use infrastructure as a platform for identity, community, and long-term relevance

• Design around urban context (network > isolated object)

  • Context means:
    • Civic life and neighborhoods
    • Connecting elements and the people within them
  • The “biggest idea” is always making the station/residence part of the city network.

• Solve infrastructure segregation by maximizing permeability

  • Large infrastructure tends to “incise” and separate city halves
  • Counter-strategy:
    • Create internal streets, paths, squares (city fabric inside the station/tunnel zone)
    • Provide multiple access points to reconnect hotspots and neighborhoods
    • Design flows of people and trains, plus natural elements (the river in the Zurich example)

• Use layered spatial logic (top/middle/bottom worlds)

  • Example structure described:
    • Upper layer: listed hall / roofed landmark space
    • Middle layer: circulation as “city” space with shops and everyday public life
    • Underground layer: tunnel/platform environment designed to feel safe and calm
  • Connect layers with elevators, stairs, and shafts—using a neutral structural/circulation material language (concrete).

• Reduce anxiety through color/material/scale control

  • Tunnel and tracks/exterior walls:
    • Use black for abstractness and scale reduction
    • Minimize perceived enclosure for waiting passengers
  • Platforms:
    • Natural stone + warm golden light
    • Calm minimal materials to avoid distracting daily commuters

• Prioritize timeless clarity over trends

  • Infrastructure lasts decades; trends will date quickly
  • Advice:
    • Keep concepts extremely clear
    • Use sober/minimal architecture
    • Rely on enduring principles (elegant minimalism, good materials, light)
    • Avoid trend-driven styling

• Make infrastructure feel like a place by performance + appropriability

  • Infrastructure becomes a place when it is:
    • Accessible
    • Permeable
    • Safe
    • Used and appropriated (e.g., chairs, cafes, children playing, everyday behaviors)
  • Architecture should be “background” enough not to suppress unpredictability.

• Seamlessness and efficiency to protect individual time

  • For very high-usage stations:
    • Human experience depends on eliminating friction, confusion, and annoyances
    • Even small delays repeated many times become huge
  • Design goal:
    • Elegant, seamless, minimal details (hide screws/joints; precision matters)

• Design “moments of pause” not only movement

  • Waiting is a major part of the experience
  • Stations should provide:
    • Warm, welcoming waiting atmospheres
    • Seating/comfort within safety and operational constraints
    • A place to rest before trains arrive

• Vortex student residence: ramp as street (public life engine)

  • Ramp concept:
    • 2.4 km continuous ascending route, nearly imperceptible slope (~2%)
    • Treated as a “street” enabling encounters (not just circulation)
  • Use contrast:
    • Concrete infrastructure endurance
    • Wooden boxes for a more temporary, adaptable “street-side building” character
  • Make the ground floor permeable for city life and student community.

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Lessons / takeaways emphasized in the Q&A

• Human-centered infrastructure is not optional: architects/designers must have a voice at the “main table,” or projects risk becoming purely engineered and lose joy/personality.
• Joy and experience matter (especially in underground spaces): natural light, material warmth, and art/well-being narratives improve everyday emotional experience.
• Infrastructure becomes identity-making when it connects to place and heritage while also feeling safe, legible, and welcoming.
• Timelessness comes from minimal, clear concepts rather than following trends.
• Design for transitions and thresholds between public/private without harsh barriers where appropriate.
• Waiting deserves design attention: pause moments are essential for humane public infrastructure.

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Speakers / sources featured

1. Amanda Ferber — Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Architecture Hunter (host and moderator)
2. John Prentice (John Prrentice) — Principal and Sydney Studio Chair, Woods Bagot (presented Sydney Central Station)
3. Gilmo / Gilmeer Durik (Gilma Durik, also referenced as GMO/Gilma Durik) — Architect and Managing Director, Durik AJ, Zurich; ETH Zurich graduate (presented Zurich infrastructure and Vortex student residence)
4. Rose Nolan — Artist collaborator (public art integration at Central Station)
5. Dr. Bronwin / Bronwen Braftoft — Aboriginal artist collaborator (artwork on Central Station back-of-house structures; also referenced earlier regarding painting acknowledgment)
6. Green Building Council of Australia — mentioned as the organization behind Green Star rating
7. Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia — mentioned as the organization behind the leading sustainability rating
8. Rhino, Nscape VR, Navisworks, Revit, BIM 360 — tools/platforms named in John’s project workflow (software sources)
9. Green Star / Infrastructure sustainability rating bodies — cited in sustainability claims
10. Referenced stations/benchmarks: Grand Central Station (New York), King’s Cross and St Pancras (London) — mentioned as comparisons