The Central Precinct Renewal Program is a city shaping initiative led by Transport for NSW, focused on renewing land in and around Central Station into a connected, high density mixed use precinct. Located at the southern edge of Sydney’s CBD, the program seeks to transform one of the city’s most important transport and civic places into a vibrant precinct for business, community, culture and daily life. As a State Significant Precinct, Central plays an important role in supporting Sydney’s future growth and strengthening connections between the CBD, surrounding neighbourhoods and the Tech Central innovation corridor.

Working in collaboration with Architectus and the NSW Government, we contributed to the development of the retail strategy across the precinct. Our role focused on establishing a clear framework for how retail, hospitality and local services could integrate with major transport infrastructure, public space, heritage assets and future development parcels. This supported a coordinated approach to ground plane activation, ensuring retail was considered as an important contributor to movement, amenity, identity and precinct life.

The strategy centred on creating a network of connected destinations that support everyday use while also responding to Central’s role as one of Sydney’s most significant arrival points. By aligning retail with pedestrian movement, public domain improvements, station interfaces and surrounding institutions, the approach reinforces Central as both a major transport interchange and an evolving urban precinct. In this context, retail plays a key role in supporting a more active, legible and welcoming city centre experience.