Light Line Social Square - Hills Showground

2019

Light Line Social Square - Hills Showground

Light Line Social Square is the line-wide artwork for the 8 Metro North West stations from Cherrybook to Tallawong. The artwork is embedded in the design of each station. It is made up of artful landscapes, sculptural furniture, coloured glazing in skylights, facades, lifts, stairs and escalators, train activated platform lighting, glazed tiled walls, playful paving and cooling mist installations. The artwork draws upon the recent agricultural history of the region. The geometry of the orchard groves, and the colours of their fresh produce, are translated into the grid of the station landscapes, and the signature colour at each station. In this way, Light Line Social Square references the past and connects it to the present and the future. The artwork orchestrates an interplay of colour and light, expressed over time. It is immersive and dynamic - continuously changing throughout the day, according to the light and weather conditions, and over the seasons, across the year.

Hills Showground is the second of the three consecutive underground stations on the Sydney Metro North West line coming from the city. These stations are characterised by the ‘great rooms’ of the underground concourse halls, and the kaleidoscopic Skylight Lanterns, (see Castle Hill). The station’s signature deep orange is given multi-layered expression in the transparent coloured glass and cast light of the Colourways lifts and escalators, and the Skylight Lanterns; the Light Line platform light installation; the Social Sphere sculptural furniture and the orange winter leaves of the Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) trees and annually flowering carpet of vibrant orange gazanias in the station primary and secondary plaza Urban Groves.

Hills Showground Station adjoins the Castle Hill Showground. The heritage agricultural show site reflects the significance of agriculture to the local community, collective memory and continuing regional identity.


location
Metro North West stations: Hills Showground
material
Transparent coloured glass, cast aluminium, concrete, paving, LED light, trees and flowering plants
size
Station and public plaza
client
Hassell on behalf of CPB John Holland as part of Northwest Rapid Transit
awards

Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design, NSW Architecture Awards 2020


Commendation for Public Architecture, NSW Architecture Awards 2020

collaborators

Peter McGregor (McGregor Westlake Architecture) and Hassell

team

Artists: Michaelie Crawford, Turpin Crawford Studio and Peter McGregor, McGregor Westlake Architecture in collaboration with Ross de la Motte and the Hassell design team. Turpin Crawford Studio team: Jennifer Turpin, Anna Ewald-Rice, Rupert Trengrove; McGregor Westlake team: Wes Grunsell, Tina Chow, Isabella Spiedel, Alex Rink; Deuce Design: Bruce Slorach, Ingrid van der Meulen; Event Engineering: Jeremy sparks, Konrad Hartmann; Fiona Robbe Landscape Architects; Waterforms International; Dirk Slotboom, Michael Sallis

photo and video credits

Brett Boardman Photography; Ian Hobbs Media; Rusty Goat Media; Mark Syke Photography