Sydney Metro Station Multimedia
As part of the Sydney Metro transformation of Central Station, Artefact helped uncover and interpret the site's rich Aboriginal and colonial history.
The project
Location: Sydney Metro Central Station on Gadigal Country
Working alongside the project team, the Artefact team developed heritage interpretation that connects commuters with the stories beneath one of Australia's busiest transport hubs, ensuring the past remains visible within a modern public space.
The site is steeped in Aboriginal and colonial history, buried beneath the function and form of the new modern station complex. Artefact worked with Laing O’Rourke, OCP Architects, Woods Bagot and Art of Multimedia to provide input into the Heritage Interpretation Plan and develop interpretive elements for the project.
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Laing O’Rourke
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Heritage Interpretation
Public Art
Heritage solution
A main feature of the Heritage Interpretation Plan was the range of interpretive media types, providing engaging and accessible experiences for the diverse range of patrons who use the station. Using the overarching interpretive themes of ‘Journeys and Gatherings’, the interpretive elements work together allowing a wide range of site stories to be told in an integrated way. Artefact developed the following elements:
A 4-minute video featuring historical images and quotes playing on a large screen kiosk in the new North-South concourse, tracing the history of the Devonshire Street Cemetery from 1820 until the present day.
An interactive computer allowing users to explore a map of Central Station with 30 ‘hot spots’ that reveal the archaeological finds and heritage buildings on the site.
A large wall display of an 1879 plan of the area in metal pic-perf with enlarged holes acting as small windows where artefacts found during the cemetery excavation are displayed.
Large-scale public artworks on the station platforms by renowned Bundjalung artist Dr Bronwyn Bancroft, called ‘Time Travellers’, exploring the layers of ancestors that lie under contemporary Sydney and the many journeys that cross the site.
Outcomes
The interpretive elements integrated throughout the Sydney Metro precinct provide engaging stories of the history of the site and the heritage of the Aboriginal people of the area. These elements add to the community’s positive experiences of the station.
“It was an honour to create interpretation elements at one of Sydney’s iconic heritage sites. The computer analytics show the high level of public interest, with nearly 2,000 users spending an average of 15 minutes at the kiosks in the first 5 months alone.”