Enriching the rail experience for regional Victoria

Bringing humanity and purpose into design

While patronage is smaller in regional communities, rail is critical for connectivity and stations are an integral part of the social fabric. Each of the four communities had unique needs – our challenge was to balance our client’s vision, transport needs and each community’s identity and sense of place to create a functional yet desirable public transport experience.

At the start of the project, we created an urban artwork design strategy to reflect each community’s culture, and to increase awareness of the local Indigenous communities.

Local artist Marilyn Fenton designed traditional Gunaikurnai line patterns which were sandblasted into the new forecourts at Morwell and Traralgon stations. The patterns depict men and women, travel, meeting and the five Gunaikurnai clans. 

To understand local needs and perspectives, we engaged communities early in the project. With the pandemic preventing face to face communication, we invited a diverse group of community members to digital workshops and used Fuse, our digital collaboration tool, to show community members a virtual representation of the station design. We then collated the ideas and perspectives on a digital whiteboard to help inform the design.

We took a social procurement approach, making a conscious effort to engage local Indigenous suppliers and contractors. We engaged with RASP, a 100% privately-owned Indigenous company, for engineering drafting services. In conjunction with the wider Alliance approach, the Alliance has exceeded its targets for Indigenous and social procurement to make a real difference to people's lives and careers. 

A safe, accessible and sensitive station design for Traralgon

Traralgon has a masterplan foreseeing the area’s predicted growth, and currently has the most rail patronage in the Gippsland region. Our team referenced the masterplan to improve access and amenity. 

The station, located in a heritage precinct, had an old narrow footbridge for passengers to access the station – the tallest structure in the town. The footbridge provided no weather protection and had limited lighting and accessibility for people with limited mobility.

We designed a new overpass to replace the footbridge, featuring four lifts, stairs, a light-filled interior and cladding to protect users from weather. For the structure, we chose geometry and materials, such as perforated walls, and colours to compliment the surrounding heritage buildings and the community’s aesthetic.