M7M12 Integration Project

CONTEXT, in association with Studio Colin Polwarth and in collaboration with Balarinji, is leading the Landscape Architecture for the M7–M12 Integration Project. This landmark infrastructure initiative for Transport for NSW (TfNSW) connects the M7 to the emerging M12 interchange at Elizabeth Drive, providing a vital motorway link to the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, currently under construction.

Positioned within the evolving Western Sydney landscape, the project serves as both a significant infrastructure upgrade and a cultural design response. CONTEXT continues the legacy of the M7’s seamless integration with the natural landscape, enhancing ecological connections, restoring native vegetation, and delivering new recreational opportunities for surrounding communities.
Caring for Country and Cultural Partnership.

 

Location:
Western Sydney, NSW
Client:
Transport for NSW
Duration:
2023 – 2025
Team:
John Holland, Studio Colin Polwarth, Balarinji

At the core of the project is a strong commitment to Caring for Country, shaped by in-depth engagement with Local Knowledge Holders. This has informed a six seasons approach that guides the revegetation and cultural expression across the landscape. The strategy supports the regeneration of the Cumberland Plain Woodlands, repairing the Aboriginal landscape through thoughtful, site-specific planting in median strips, interchange zones and local settings.

The M7–M12 Integration Project represents a genuine collaboration between government, the design team and the broader community. The approach to landscape and public art reflects a national story of connection and healing, reinforcing mutual respect and cultural continuity through place-based design. The project aims to create new songlines and repair others, recognising the past and building a connected future.

 

Indigenous Art and Storytelling in Infrastructure
The central design theme, “To Protect Country is to Belong,” places the universal experience of belonging at the heart of a national narrative. The M12 Interchange highlights stories of Indigenous war service, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service people and their enduring relationship with Country. This vision offers a message of unity and shared future, imagining a reconciled, multicultural Australia where all people live under “the same sun.”

A defining feature of the project is the creation of an immersive cultural experience, featuring a series of Aboriginal-led artworks woven throughout the motorway corridor and shared user path. This large-scale Indigenous art gallery is set within a native landscape of Cumberland Plain species, with installations located in the central median, batter slopes, rest areas, and across the M12 Interchange. The Light Horse Interchange, originally designed by CONTEXT, is also being revitalised, now featuring Indigenous narrative and expanded native planting.

 

Integrated Landscape and Public Art
CONTEXT’s Stage 2 Design and Landscape Plan (DLP) integrates cultural storytelling and environmental design. Artworks include Spears, Shields, Warriors, Maria and Robert Lock, Light Beams, and a typographic installation of Son of Mine by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Each piece is framed within a responsive landscape that supports interpretation, engagement and reflection.

Six new rest areas along the M7 shared user path serve as cultural and community hubs. These spaces incorporate interpretive signage, native planting, artwork and thoughtful seating to encourage rest, learning and connection to Country. They reflect CONTEXT’s broader mission of embedding cultural knowledge and meaning into the everyday experience of infrastructure.


Project Team and Delivery
The M7–M12 Integration Project is being delivered by John Holland, with design services by Studio Colin Polwarth, Balarinji and CONTEXT. The work exemplifies CONTEXT’s commitment to place-based design that honours cultural heritage, supports environmental repair and empowers communities through collaborative partnerships.

 

Artists and Contributors

  • Jamie Eastwood
  • Jasmine Seymour
  • Yhonnie Scarce
  • Corina Wayali Norman
  • Michael Snape

This project highlights the power of landscape architecture and public art to enrich infrastructure, telling stories of Country, identity and belonging at the scale of a region.

Renders by: Studio Colin Polwarth