What is the Prix Versailles?
The Prix Versailles is an annual series of architecture and design awards presented at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris since 2015. It's considered the world award for commercial architecture, celebrating projects that blend aesthetic beauty with cultural
significance, sustainability, and intelligent design. The competition recognizes everything from airports and hotels to museums and, of course, passenger stations. Being selected means a project is considered a benchmark for how design can improve daily life and create iconic urban spaces. The jury looks for innovation, creativity, and a connection to local heritage, making the award a true measure of a building's soul.
A Cathedral Beneath the City
So, what makes Town Hall Station so special? Located deep beneath Melbourne's bustling Swanston Street, the station has been praised for its incredible sense of scale and openness. The design, led by a collaboration of architectural firms including Hassell, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and Weston Williamson + Partners, creates a breathtaking underground experience. The main concourse under City Square features eight massive columns that branch out like trees, supporting a vaulted ceiling that gives the space a cathedral-like feel. Adding to the drama are 10-metre-high, copper-coloured arches above the platforms, which at 18 metres wide, are among the broadest underground platforms in the world. Locally designed and manufactured chandeliers complete the grand, light-filled environment, a far cry from the cramped, purely functional metro stations of the past.
The Jewel of the Metro Tunnel Project
Town Hall Station is one of five new underground stations built as part of Victoria's landmark Metro Tunnel project, which opened to passengers in November 2025. This massive undertaking was designed to untangle the city's rail network and create capacity for more trains, more often. The project wasn't just about engineering, however; it was also a chance to create world-class public spaces. The recognition for Town Hall Station highlights how large-scale infrastructure can be both highly functional and architecturally inspiring. It even features a direct underground connection to the iconic Flinders Street Station, seamlessly blending the new with Melbourne's rich heritage. This win isn't an isolated event for Melbourne, as other stations like Reservoir and Bell have been recognised by the Prix Versailles in previous years, signalling a city-wide commitment to design excellence.
Global Recognition and Stiff Competition
Melbourne's new station finds itself in esteemed company on the 2026 list. It was selected alongside just six other stations from around the globe, including striking new transport hubs in Lyon, Rome, Naples, Riyadh, and Los Angeles. Each was praised for how it integrated with its city's culture, from a station in Rome that doubles as an archaeological exhibit to one in Riyadh with a facade inspired by desert dunes. This global shortlist illustrates a growing trend in public transport: that stations should be more than just points of transit. They should be destinations in their own right—beautiful, sustainable, and capable of revitalising their local neighbourhoods. As Prix Versailles Secretary General Jerome Gouadain noted, the goal is to create cultural expressions that reinforce mobility while respecting local architecture.
