Built in the shadow of Barangaroo’s “scar”, 13 huge tree sculptures are taking shape in the Cutaway as construction on the revamped event space nears completion.
Carved into the headland, the subterranean space next to the imposing sandstone wall below Barangaroo Reserve opened 10 years ago as a concrete cavern with little design flair.
The Cutaway at Barangaroo takes shape.Credit: James Brickwood
Construction at the Cutaway.Credit: James Brickwood
Timber structures also enhances the venue’s acoustics through perforated plywood and insulation.Credit: James Brickwood
Now construction of the new $100 million fitout has hit the 85 per cent mark, with event such as concerts, art exhibitions, gala dinners and fashion shows to begin next year.
“[The sandstone] is a really beautiful thing in a way, but it’s also a scar – we would never do that now, cut a headland away for shipping terminals,” lead architect Richard Jones of FJC Studio said.
“There was an idea of some kind of repair and mending of the wound that is left by that … taking away from the grid of columns and concrete and change it into an organic, natural space.”
Based on the Port Jackson fig, the sculptures have a practical application as well. They hide the less attractive parts of an event space such as rigging equipment and lights, and the timber absorbs reverberation to improve acoustics for loud concerts and quieter theatre events.
The design, which includes shell-like shapes and curved forms of a giba-gunya, or rock shelter, is a collaboration with First Nations designers Shannon Foster and Jake Nash.