Metro’s LAX/Metro Transit Center has been named one of the World’s Most Beautiful Stations for 2026 by Prix Versailles, an international architecture and design awards program. Click here to see all the winners.
The station is one of seven worldwide — and the only one in the United States — selected for this year’s list. The others are in Melbourne, Australia; Lyon, France; Rome and Naples, Italy; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which placed two stations on the list.
Prix Versailles was founded in 2015; the organization runs annual competitions honoring notable contemporary architecture around the world. Categories include airports, passenger stations, museums, sports venues, campuses, hotels, restaurants and retail spaces. Projects are considered for their architecture and design as well as innovation, ties to local heritage, sustainability and social value. The annual awards are announced at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, but the selections are made by Prix Versailles.
The LAX/Metro Transit Center opened in June 2025 at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street — the station is served by the C and K Lines, as well as local buses and the SoFi Stadium Express bus.
Designed by Grimshaw Architects in collaboration with Gruen Associates, the nearly 500,000-square-foot facility serves Metro’s C and K Lines, Metro and municipal buses, Metro Micro and bicyclists. It will also connect to LAX’s upcoming SkyLink people mover that will serve the airport’s passenger terminals. Until SkyLink opens, free LAX-operated shuttle buses carry travelers between the station and airport terminals.
Prix Versailles praised the station’s “light and airy feel,” sweeping canopies, glass ceilings and focus on making transfers smooth for travelers. The organization also highlighted the facility’s natural ventilation, shade structures and solar panels, which provide about half of the station building’s internal energy needs.
The station’s passenger-friendly features include wide platforms and concourses, escalators and elevators, landscaped bus bays, restrooms, a Bike Hub, digital wayfinding and public art.
Being included on the list also puts the station in the running for another honor. Three of the seven stations will receive a 2026 World Title for overall design, interior or exterior during the Prix Versailles ceremony Dec. 10 at UNESCO Headquarters.
We’ll share the results when they are announced. In the meantime, here are a few photos of our newest — and now internationally recognized — transit hub.
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