Concentrated in Sydney’s CBD, Sydney Open is a rare opportunity to step inside some of the buildings whose façades we pass every day – unaware of their significance, or the stories that have informed their existence.
Designed as a self-guided walkable event, also serviced by public transport, the program includes 43 buildings spanning 210 years, that speak to the city’s evolution from penal outpost to global city, trading port to business, lifestyle and tourism mecca, all captured in an architectural slideshow.
Ticket-holders choose their own combination of buildings to see and activities – such as talks and tours led by architects, designers and historians, as well as interactive events and entertainment.
Here are a few expected highlights!
The Judge’s House is one of Sydney’s earliest one of Sydney’s earliest surviving Colonial Georgian houses, and the oldest surviving building in the city centre originally constructed as a private residence. Dating from the 1820s, the modest sandstone residence was built by surveyor William Harper, who arrived at Port Jackson in 1821 with his wife and two children.
The latest in a string of award-winning adaptive use projects in Sydney’s CBD, The Lands by Capella has given new life to one of Sydney’s most iconic landmark heritage sites, the historic Department of Lands building. Designed in 1876 by Colonial Architect James Barnet, the heritage-listed Victorian Renaissance Revival building has been meticulously restored, its grand stone staircases, marble corridors and soaring arched windows blended with contemporary luxury.
Related: Hospitality design at a new restaurant set within The Lands building
Often referred to as the ‘Pink Police Station’ due to its pink-hued exterior, the heritage-listed Victorian style former police station at 281 Clarence Street was designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet in the 1880s in response to industrial unrest at the nearby Darling Harbour docks and was renowned as a busy inner-city lock-up. The space has since been reimagined as Gaffa Creative Precinct, a hub for creativity and innovation.
Once home to Australia’s longest-running magazine, The Bulletin, The Press, is the latest Merivale offering: a sumptuously designed hospitality destination in Bridge Lane. Originally designed in 1885 by as a warehouse and luxury emporium for hardware merchants Holdsworth, Macpherson & Co, the space has been revitalised and reimagined, complete with Murano glass chandeliers and a pink marble bar.
Prefecture 48 is a three-storey, six-venue Japanese dining precinct that breathes new life into the former heritage-listed Foley Brothers warehouse at 230 Sussex Street. A rare intact example of the warehouse complexes typical of the 19th-century trade and transport history of the Darling Harbour wharf area, the building was originally constructed in 1885–86 for the Foley family operation, then one of the largest colonial produce and butter traders in Australasia. A Silver Award-winner in the World Interior News (WIN) Awards for Hospitality Interiors: Restaurants & Cafes, 2025, each of the six venues has a design narrative defined by the food and beverages it serves and inspired by Japanese cuisine, culture, art, fashion and design.
A disused 1930s power substation, converted to a state-of-the-art urban cultural precinct, Machine Hall is one of the city’s most sought-after event spaces and most lauded adaptive-reuse projects.
Harry Seidler’s little-known first commercial building, completed in 1955, was a milestone in the introduction of modernist architecture to Sydney’s CBD, and one of the earliest local examples of architecture designed with climate and sustainability at the forefront. Originally known as Horwitz House, it was since been refurbished and reinvented as WorkHouse, home to international architecture practice Studio Kong, who are opening their first-floor studio space for Sydney Open, along with access to the building’s rooftop.
Designed in the early 1970s as the Freemasons United Grand Lodge, Sydney Masonic Centre is one of Sydney’s most striking brutalist landmarks, renowned for its monumental off-form concrete interiors. Head inside this iconic building and lift the veil on the mysterious world of the Freemasons, with access to the Grand Library, the Museum of Freemasonry and the Lodge rooms.
The full Sydney Open program is now live online here, with details of some great talks, tours and other activities available to ticket holders, here.
Sydney Open
sydneyopen.com.au
