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1. SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
(14-CE-147)

2. Introduction
Sydney Opera House (1957 - 1973) is a masterpiece of late modern architecture. It is admired
internationally and proudly treasured by the people of Australia. It was created by a young
architect who understood and recognized the potential provided by the site against the stunning
backdrop of Sydney Harbour. Denmark’s Jørn Utzon gave Australia a challenging, graceful piece
of urban sculpture in patterned tiles, glistening in the sunlight and invitingly aglow at night.At
now, Sydney Opera House has earned a reputation as a world-class performing arts centre and
become a symbol of both Sydney and the Australian nation. In 2003 Utzon received the Pritzker
Prize, international architecture's highest honour

3. Location Of
Sydney opera
house
It is situated on Bennelong Point in
Sydney Harbour, close to the Sydney
Harbour Bridge. Geographical
coordinates are latitude 33° 51’ 35” S
and longitude 151°12’ 50” E.

4. General Information
Main contractor Civil & Civic
Cost A$102 million
Architect Jorn Utzon
Client NSW Government
Structural Engineer Ove Arup & Patners

5. Dimensions
Length 183m (603ft)
Width 120m (394ft)
Area 4.4 acres
Height 65m (213ft)

6. The outstanding universal values of the
Sydney Opera House are demonstrated as
(i) a masterpiece of late modern architecture; -
multiple strands of creativity, - a great urban
sculpture, - masterful synthesis of
architectural ideas,

7. (ii) oustanding achievements in structural
engineering and technological innovation;

8. (iii) a world-famous iconic building of the 20th
century

9. Construction of the Sydney Opera House

10. The Sydney Opera House is often thought of as
being constructed in three stages and this is
useful in understanding the history of the
three key elements of its architectural
composition:
1) the podium (stage 1)
2)the vaulted shells (stage 2)
3)the glass walls (stage 3)

11. The Podium
The construction of the podium was a
significant design and engineering
achievement. The challenge was to
construct a podium that
simultaneously created a sense of the
continuation of the natural landscape
and a bold modern structure of
continuous reinforced concrete that
rose out of the ground and overlooked
the harbour . Therefore its solution
was a beam that integrated the
techniques of folded plate structures
and prestressing.

12. The vaulted shells
After many attempts at fulfilling the
promise that the competition
proposals promised, an intensive
collaboration between architects and
engineers ended with an absolutely
clear solution with ball geometry that
gave the right answer to all the many
problems that such a huge and
complicated task could throw up. We
had no precedent to go on … only
through [a] series of experiments did
we come to understand all aspects and
find ourselves able to reach the result.
It was like climbing Mount Everest for
the first time (Utzon quoted in Weston
2004a: 131).

13. Ove Arup & Partners undertook
extensive engineering research and
calculations over four years.They
proposed over a dozen different
geometries for the shells and different
ways of studying them, starting with
parabolic surfaces, moving to ellipsoid
schemes and then on to circular arc rib
proposals. In late 1961, Utzon was
struck by the idea that all the roof
shapes could be derived from a single
sphere. Sharing a common radius, the
segments could be broken into
individual components, prefabricated
and then assembled on site.

14. The glass walls
The design solution for the glass walls
pushed the boundaries of contemporary
technology to the limit and took eight years
The final solution was a design of planar
glazing with minimal external mullions and
internal steel structure set back from the
glass.
The glass walls were a considerable design
and engineering achievement. This was the
first largescale example of the use of glass in
a building.
The external tile cladding
of the shells
Utzon believed that the covering for the
gigantic curved forms of the shells would
have ‘the greatest influence on the visual
impact’ of the building (Weston 2002: 148).
The right materials were needed to create
an appearance that would match and
emphasise the simple and powerful
geometry of the shell structure. After
investigating materials used in ancient
buildings, Utzon chose ceramic tiles partly
because of their beautiful, harmonious
patina.

15. VIDEO

17. VISITOR FACILITIES AND STATISTIC
It is estimated that over four million people
visit the Sydney Opera House site annually.
Over one million of these visitors attend more
than 1700 live performances per annum,
making it one of the world’s busiest
performing arts venues. The Sydney Opera
House site also functions as a grand public
gathering place and is host to a variety of
function-specific facilities as well as general
services. The large public events of New Year’s
Eve attract around 10 000 people to the site to
celebrate and watch the fireworks which are
broadcast internationally.Facilities of
shopping,resturants are also provided for
visitors.

18. WW.SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM

19. Venues
There are eight primary venues at the Sydney Opera House.
These are The Concert Hall (maximum seating capacity 2679);
The Opera Theatre (maximum seating capacity 1507);
The Drama Theatre (maximum seating capacity 544);
The Playhouse (maximum seating capacity 398);
The Studio (seating capacity from 220–318);
The Exhibition Hall (maximum standing capacity up to 300);
The Utzon Room (a multi-purpose venue, maximum capacity 270 people);
The forecourt (an open air venue south of the shells which can accommodate up to 6000 people

20. The Concert Hall The Opera Theatre