Parramatta Light Rail, Stage 1 has taken home yet another award, winning the Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design at the 2026 NSW Architecture Awards, hosted by the Australian Institute of Architects.
As the jury noted, Parramatta Light Rail “redefines the relationship between infrastructure and place” by recognising context, anticipating future growth and bringing employment, services and amenity closer to where people live.
A huge congratulations to COX Architecture, Transport for NSW and everyone involved in delivering this important project. CONTEXT is honoured to be part of this incredible team.
Jury Citation
“Parramatta Light Rail demonstrates how thoughtful urban infrastructure can positively influence the future form of a city, enhancing how people move, gather and experience a place.
Parramatta continues its renewal as metropolitan Sydney’s geographic and economic centre, undergoing a profound reshaping of its urban fabric. Parramatta Light Rail responds to this by connecting communities, unlocking precincts and enabling a cohesive, more sustainable and integrated future for the city and its citizens.
Spanning 12 kilometres from Westmead to Carlingford, and traversing the Parramatta CBD, the character of the 16 new stops plays a meaningful role in contributing to Western Sydney’s emerging civic identity.
The Light Rail alignment serves major destinations including the Westmead Health Precinct, Cumberland Hospital, North Parramatta, Riverside Theatres, the Parramatta CBD, Rosehill Gardens, Western Sydney University, Rydalmere, Telopea and Camellia.
Already more than 130,000 people live within walking distance of a stop, a number anticipated to increase as the project catalyses ongoing consolidation and renewal.
The project features NSW’s first planted light rail corridor – Green Track – serving to cool the city, improve biodiversity and stormwater quality outcomes. The corridor provides continuous shade and generous shared paths, which in turn contribute to climate adaptation while also enriching the public domain.
Parramatta Light Rail redefines the relationship between infrastructure and place by recognising contextual cues, anticipating the future, and by bringing employment, services and amenity closer to where people live.”
Photos by Simon Wood Photography
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Chippendale, NSW 2008
context@context.net.au
+61 2 8244 8900
Opening Hours
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