Case Study: Madang Ngiyinyarralang: Stronger together at 10 Macquarie Street

July 16, 2026

Case Study: Madang Ngiyinyarralang: Stronger together at 10 Macquarie Street

In the lobby of 10 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, a new sculptural work brings Dharug cultural knowledge into direct conversation with the contemporary city.

Titled Madang Ngiyinyarralang, meaning “Coming together” in Dharug language, the piece was created by Dharug artist, Chris Tobin, through a close collaboration between Koskela, Charter Hall, WMK and Buildcorp.

The sculpture is both a cultural marker and a statement of intent. For Charter Hall, the project reflects a practical commitment to creating places that acknowledge Country and invite deeper connection to the histories and cultures embedded within it. For Koskela, it demonstrates the power of design facilitation rooted in genuine engagement. For the wider consultant and delivery team, it shows what can happen when cultural expression is embedded early and carried through with care.

A work grounded in Country

Parramatta sits on Dharug Country, in the traditional lands of the Burramattagal people. In the artist’s words, this is a place with deep cultural memory — a place where Country has held far more than the relatively recent history of colonial development.

Chris Tobin’s practice draws on local visual language, historical research, and living cultural knowledge. He speaks about his commitment to using local designs, studying surviving rock art, and translating traditional forms into contemporary expressions that still feel true to place.

At 10 Macquarie Street, that approach became the foundation for a sculptural work that is unmistakably of Parramatta.

“The design is known as Madang Ngiyinyarralang. That means ‘coming together’ in Darug language. That’s pretty much what the piece is about — the coming together of Aboriginal social structures and values with the cityscape that is growing around Parramatta and growing through Parramatta.” — Chris Tobin, Artist

The concept: coming together

The concept for Madang Ngiyinyarralang evolved from Chris Tobin’s two-dimensional visual language into a three-dimensional sculptural form for the lobby. The sculpture also needed to respond to a practical need within the space: it needed to provide sun protection to the concierge desk positioned within the lobby’s glazed atrium, while also contributing meaningfully to the experience and identity of the building.

Madang Ngiyinyarralang also marks a meaningful continuation of the building’s legacy. Formerly known as the Jessie Street Centre, the building was named after Lady Jessie Mary Grey Street — an influential Australian diplomat, suffragette and tireless advocate for Indigenous rights. As Australia’s first female delegate to the United Nations and a key figure in the establishment of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement, Jessie dedicated her life to equality and inclusion. This sculpture honours that enduring spirit as 10 Macquarie Street enters its next chapter.

The sculpture performs on multiple levels. It filters light, softens the impact of the western sun and creates shelter at the concierge, while also embedding First Nations cultural knowledge, language and design into a prominent contemporary workplace.

The work builds on concentric circles, a significant symbol of Aboriginal Country, connected through a network of lines that reference both kinship structures and the urban grid of Parramatta’s streets.

The connected circles in the work echo the strict marriage networks between neighbouring clans, relationships that strengthened community ties, enriched cultural exchange, and helped maintain peace. In the sculpture, these connected forms also speak to present-day multicultural Parramatta, a place shaped by many communities, identities and stories.

Rather than presenting the city as something imposed over Country, the sculpture suggests something more hopeful: a city that can learn to integrate with Country and be reshaped by the values of the place it occupies.

A key strength of the project was the way cultural meaning was not treated as an afterthought. From concept to fabrication, the sculpture was developed through collaboration between artist, client, design team and builder, ensuring the final work remained culturally grounded while responding to the architecture of the site.

Koskela’s role as facilitator was central to that process, helping bridge artistic vision, stakeholder input and built outcome.

“This project is a strong example of what happens when First Nations design is embedded through collaboration rather than applied at the end. Working with Chris, Charter Hall, WMK and Buildcorp, we were able to utilise our industrial design capabilities and support a process that respected cultural authority while delivering a beautiful, functional, permanent outcome for the building.” — Sasha Titchkosky, Koskela

The result is a work that feels integrated with the foyer rather than separate from it. Its geometry sits comfortably within the building’s architectural language, while its meaning extends well beyond the physical structure.

The integration of practical and symbolic outcomes was central to the project from the start.

A visible reminder of Country in contemporary Parramatta

When speaking about the work, Chris Tobin returns to the importance of visibility. Public-facing art, he explains, is a gentle but powerful way of reminding people that Aboriginal culture is not historical or peripheral — it is living, present, and part of contemporary life.

That principle carries strongly into this project. Installed within a prominent commercial building, Madang Ngiyinyarralang helps shift the visual language of the workplace and public realm. It makes First Nations culture visible in a place where, historically, Aboriginal stories may have been ignored, hidden or pushed aside.

“I’m very keen to have First Nations art brought into our contemporary structures. It’s a beautiful way of gently reminding people that they’re on Aboriginal Country. That’s not to exclude people, that’s to include us in contemporary Parramatta.” — Chris Tobin, Artist

For Charter Hall, that visibility is part of a broader responsibility to create places that reflect the Country they stand on and the communities they serve.

“At Charter Hall, we see projects like this as an important part of how we create more inclusive, connected places. Madang Ngiyinyarralang brings First Nations culture visibly and meaningfully into the everyday experience of 10 Macquarie Street for our tenant-customers and broader business community. .” — Cassandra Nail, Asset Manager, Charter Hall

Collaboration in practice

The title “Stronger together” resonates not only in the cultural concept of the work, but in the way the project itself came to life. Delivering a permanent artwork into a commercial development required trust, coordination and shared commitment across multiple parties. This was of particular importance given the building’s former Jessie Street Centre name and what it stood for,

Chris Tobin acknowledges that the process itself reflected the spirit of the final piece.

“Stronger together describes very much the process of bringing this art piece to life too.” — Chris Tobin, Artist

That collaborative approach extended into delivery, where careful project management and construction coordination were essential to realising the work to the intended quality.

“For Buildcorp, the significance of this project was in helping realise a culturally important concept into a built outcome with the care it deserved. It required close collaboration across the team, and we’re proud to have contributed to a piece that will have a lasting presence in the building and in Parramatta.” — Steve Coombs, PM, Buildcorp

Together, the project team helped ensure the sculpture was not diluted through the delivery process but strengthened by it.

“Transforming 10 Macquarie, with Charter Hall has been a journey that WMK have approached with respect and sensitivity. The poetry and symbolism that run through the outcome is uplifting and inspiring. We are very privileged to have been able to collaborate with Koskela, Chris Tobin, and deliver with Buildcorp, on such a meaningful and well considered response to the people and place of Parramatta.” – Christopher Pullin, Director Projects (Interiors)

A sculpture that carries story

The sculpture also holds a quieter cultural narrative within it. Chris Tobin describes the connected circles as reflecting women’s relationship networks between clans, formed through marriage and kinship. These ties were social, cultural and spiritual — sustaining exchange, continuity and peace across neighbouring Countries.

Additional cascading leaves reference gum leaves, which in local cultural practice could signify peace. In this context, they read almost like a blessing over the site and over Parramatta itself.

What this means for Parramatta

Parramatta is one of Australia’s fastest-evolving urban centres, but it is also an ancient cultural landscape. Madang Ngiyinyarralang holds both truths at once. It recognises the intensity of development around the city while insisting that Country remains present, alive and deserving of respect.

For Chris Tobin, that shift is deeply personal.“To have our stories proudly displayed in such a fine building means a lot. When I was growing up, and certainly when my mother and her mother were growing up in Parramatta, Aboriginal stuff was pushed to the side, kept hidden. To have it proudly displayed — it’s a celebration of the rise of culture. It’s also a celebration of the healing of the country.” — Chris Tobin, Artist