Museums of History NSW is running an expert-led tour of The Cutaway at Barangaroo on Saturday 5 December, from 10am to 11am, as part of its Sydney Open Series of talks, workshops and tours.
A headland recalled
The Cutaway sits beneath Barangaroo Reserve, in the space left by a sandstone headland that was cut away for industrial use from the mid-19th century until the 1960s. fjcstudio transformed the concrete shell into a cultural venue with First Nations designers Dr Shannon Foster and Jake Nash. The design acknowledges the cut in Country and draws on restorative landscape elements to recall what was lost.
Trees of knowledge
Tree-like timber forms inspired by the Damun, the Port Jackson fig, stand in front of the lit sandstone face. Shell-like profiles evoke the Giba-gunya, or rock shelter. The timber canopies also carry rigging and lighting, and absorb sound to turn an echo-prone space into a flexible events venue. The Cutaway opened to the public on 30 and 31 May 2026.
Sydney Open 2026
Three fjcstudio projects are also part of Sydney Open 2026 on Sunday 1 November: Machine Hall, The Mint and 580 George Street.
