Jasmax | Location: Auckland New Zealand

Winner of the 2019 World Architecture Festival WAFx award for cultural identity, and the most significant infrastructure project ever undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand. CRL promises to revolutionise transport in Auckland while reflecting the city's Māori and Pacific identity.

Transforming Tāmaki Makaurau

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s $4.4 billion City Rail Link (CRL) is the largest infrastructure project Aotearoa New Zealand has ever undertaken. It is comprised of two 3.45km-long, twin underground rail tunnels which run up to 42m below the existing city with the potential to cater to 30 million users a year. When it opens in 2024, the network is designed to transform and invigorate wider Auckland. CRL will revolutionise public transportation into and through Auckland City.

Once completed, it will turn a one-way cul-de-sac rail system terminating at Britomart Station, into a two way through system able to carry up to 54,000 people an hour at peak times, providing efficient and reliable public transport options for Aucklanders.

CRL is also New Zealand’s largest public art project. A powerful expression of indigenous cultural identity, CRL will create an authentic and globally recognisable image of the city of Auckland for the future.

The architecture and integrated artwork weaves distinctive stories of place into the design of each station. Set within the natural world, these stories reflect the Te Ao Māori worldview that people and the land are one.