SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA Sixth largest country in the world Same size as the 48 mainland U.S.
states The world’s flattest, smallest continent Lowest pop. density in the world : 2
people per square kilometer. Produces most of the world’s wool and
beef Home to the Great Barrier Reef Only country that has it’s own continent Pop. = 21,262,641
THE HISTORY
Designed by Danish architect Jǿrn Utzon in 1957
Design competition with no cost limit, it just required two performance halls
In 1966 Jǿrn Utzon resigned, and Ted Farmer got the job.
In 1999 Jǿrn Utzon was re-engaged and developed plans for future changes to the building.
Design
Main level
Lower Level
ABOUT THE BUILDING It cost 102,000,000 $AU to build. It conducts 3000 events each year Provides guided tours to about 200,000
people each year Has an annual audience of 2 million for
its performances Includes 1000 rooms It is 185 meters long and 120 meters
wide It took 7 years to build the model and 17
years to build the actual building.
ABOUT THE BUILDING CONTINUED… Has 2194 pre-cast concrete sections as its
roof Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons Has roof sections held together by 350 km of
tensioned steel cable Has over 1 million tiles on the roof Uses 6225 square meters of glass and 645
kilometers of electric cable The Opera House covers 4.5 acres of land It contains five main performance spaces, a
recording studio, five restaurants, and four souvenir shops.
INTERIOR
CONCERT HALL
FACTS The Sydney Opera House has its own opera
written about it called the “Eighth Wonder”. The opera house was amongst the 20
finalists in the New Seven Wonders of the World project of 2007
233 designs were submitted for the ‘Opera House Design Competition’, held in 1956
In January 1956 Jǿrn Utzon was announced the winner and was awarded a prize of 5000 pounds.
The original estimate of the cost was 7 million, but the final cost was 102 million.
THE ROOF The vaulted roof shells were designed by Utzon in
collaboration with international engineers Ove Arup & Partners
The final shape of the shells are derived from a single imagined sphere.
Each shell is composed of pre-cast rib segments radiating from a concrete pedestal and rising to a ridge beam.
The shells are faced in glazed off-white tiles while the podium is clad in earth-toned, reconstituted granite panels.
The glass walls are a special feature of the building, constructed according to the modified design by Peter Hall.
There is 67,000 square feet of glass used for windows that are located in the roofs
Sydney Opera House in the fog
TRIVIA
The base of the Sydney Opera House is 611 ft. long and 380 ft. wide. If the builders could build 65 square ft and hour, how many hours would it take for them to build the base of the Sydney Opera House???
ANSWER
Multiply L x W = total area of base in
square ft. Divide total area by the rate. 3,572 hours
SUMMARY Jǿrn Utzon started out building it, but
after he quit Peter Hall took over. It surpassed the price expectation by 95
million dollars. The roof is made up of special shells
specifically designed for it. It is a national landmark of Sydney It is still a very popular site today, 52
years after its creation.