Smart Design Studio

The Roc Rail Operations Centre

THE ROC RAIL OPERATIONS CENTRE

Jacobs + Smart Design Studio

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett

ARCHITECTS
Jacobs, Smart Design Studio

MANUFACTURERS
Austral Bricks, Boral, Autodesk, Empire Facades, Holyoake

ENGINEERING
Jacobs Group

CLIENTS
Sydney Rail

LANDSCAPE
Tract Consultants

PHOTOGRAPHS
Martin Siegner, Ross Honeysett, Veronique Jenkins

AREA
12000.0 m2

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Alexandria NSW 2015, Australia

CATEGORY
Institutional Buildings

Text description provided by architect.

The new Rail Operations Centre for Sydney Trains was designed by Jacobs in association with Smart Design Studio.

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Martin Siegner
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Martin Siegner
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett

The concept for the building was born from a very specific brief, which called for a vast top-lit, solid-walled control room atop several floors of open commercial workspace.

This presented an opportunity to create a unique building that positively contributed to the new urban fabric of the Green Square city center, expressing its function as a piece of railway infrastructure.

The entire form has been enclosed within a massive masonry wall for structural support and security.

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett

To moderate the building’s mass and to create connections with the surrounding streets, there are large arched openings in the north and east facades spanning forty meters and forty-five meters respectively.

These work as substantial beams supporting the heavy brick walls above, and allowing glazed openings at the base.

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett

An expansive control room was required to centralize all the critical operations teams.

The largest screen in the Southern Hemisphere has been incorporated, enabling the controllers to monitor the network.

The high ceiling is punctuated by integrated skylights that perform like a luminous canopy directing natural light over the flexible working environment.

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Veronique Jenkins
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett

The building is clad in locally made red brick that’s redolent of the dominant color of local warehouses, Sydney’s historical buildings, and Australia’s red earth.

The commonplace nature of brickwork and its familiar texture have been used as a counterpoint to the extraordinary scale of the architectural gestures that will define this building’s identity.

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Martin Siegner


The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Ross Honeysett
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
© Veronique Jenkins


The Roc Rail Operations Centre
Section


The Roc Rail Operations Centre
East Elevation
The Roc Rail Operations Centre
North Elevation

The Roc Rail Operations Centre
Exploded Axonometry

Smart Design Studio
T +61 2 83324333
Smart Design Studio
14 Stokes Ave, Alexandria NSW 2015, Australia