The Cutaway

This is The Cutaway.

Beneath the green expanse of Barangaroo Reserve sits one of Sydney’s most distinctive cultural and event spaces: a venue shaped by the city itself – a concrete floor leading to a towering sandstone wall that gazes up to Sydney’s starry sky.

Connected to Country

The Cutaway is located on Gadigal Country and is committed to celebrating First Nations peoples, Country and culture. The Cutaway includes a dedicated First Nations education space that supports learning, storytelling and connection to Country .

The experience

The Cutaway is a Barangaroo events and cultural space carved from sandstone beneath Barangaroo Reserve – a rare combination of raw scale and refined capability. Designed to host events, festivals and exhibitions, the venue is flexible at its core, allowing each event to transform the space in its own way.

The Cutaway is a NSW Government project delivered in partnership with Placemaking NSW, ICC Sydney and Darling Harbour Live. ICC Sydney welcomes bookings for The Cutaway from August 2026.
 

Venue spaces

• Event Hall – the hero volume anchored by the sandstone wall
• Gallery – exhibition-ready and adaptable for functions
• Pre-function and arrival spaces – ticketing, cloaking and gathering
• Education space – dedicated to cultural learning

Key features

• Size and capacity: 5,000m2 of cultural and events space across two mezzanine levels, with a total capacity of ~2,000 people.
• Architectural features: 13 cultural timber design features using up to 150 timber pieces puzzled together per feature. Each piece weighs between 7kg and 950kg and is between 7 and 17 metres tall.
• Versatile event spaces: A main event space, pre-function space, gallery and exhibition rooms, a lobby, commercial kitchen, green rooms, dressing rooms, and rigging infrastructure. The much-loved sandstone wall remained a centrepiece of the main event space. There is a multi-purpose First Nations educational space.
• Accessibility: Step free access from Barangaroo Metro Station, public lifts connecting the basement carpark right through the venue to the parkland above, and an adult Changing Place facility registered on Changing Places Australia website. Improved entry, forecourt and façade adjacent to Nawi Cove.
• Premium acoustics: Existing open voids were enclosed with 3-layers of glass to improve acoustics, enhance natural light, and significantly reduce noise spill into the surrounding area.
• Long term sustainability: All electric operations with zero fossil fuels, part of the NSW Government’s Green Product Purchase Agreement and Barangaroo’s carbon-neutral commitment.

Location & access

Situated below the eastern end of Barangaroo Reserve on Sydney’s waterfront, The Cutaway sits on the doorstep of the Barangaroo Metro station, adjacent to Nawi Cove, with nearby public parking and transport connections. Find out more about getting here.