London-based, internationally awarded firm Níall McLaughlin Architects (NMLA) has been announced as the architect of a new cathedral in Sydney’s north shore suburb of Waitara. According to the practice, the building will be Australia’s first Roman Catholic cathedral in over a century to be masterplanned from its inception.
Alongside the new cathedral, the 7.7-hectare precinct will encompass education and community services, serving around 250,000 Catholics who live within the 26 parishes of the Diocese of Broken Bay in Sydney’s Central Coast, North Shore and Northern Beaches regions.
Archbishop Anthony Randazzo described the precinct as “a home for faith, a place for community, and a commitment to the faithful of today and for future generations.”
“Its design will represent a visible and living heart for diocesan life, where worship, formation, pastoral care, outreach and administration come together in service of commission, community and the common good,” he said.
“The appointment of Níall McLaughlin Architects signals we are moving ahead with confidence to create a community legacy for generations to come.”
Led by the 2026 recipient of the Royal Institute of British Architecture Royal Gold Medal, Níall McLaughlin, NMLA was selected for the design of the precinct following an invited international process.
“We are delighted to work on this significant project to help create an enduring spiritual, civic, and cultural precinct that places the faithful at its centre,” McLaughlin said.
Drawing inspiration from the Hawkesbury River, the project “envisions a congregation ebbing and flowing beneath a forest of timber framing, contained by sandstone structures of local bluffs and caves,” a communique from the practice reads.
“Responsible, sustainable materials” have been selected to complement the natural setting, and rooftop gardens designed to promote biodiversity alongside the site’s existing blue gum forest, which will be preserved as public amenity.
Local practice Hayball, who has been appointed as executive architect, will work alongside NMLA to realise the project, which includes a new cathedral and forecourt with a cafe and bookshop, a pastoral centre, a parish hall, a new home for social service and welfare organisation Catholic Care, residences for the bishop and clergy, and diocesan offices.
The project, which is soon to be lodged for formal approvals, is set to evolve over the next several years through funding from the church’s institutional capital and a dedicated fundraising appeal.