Sydney Opera House Project - Design, Construction and Facts

The Sydney Opera House is an iconic building located in Sydney, Australia. The project was initiated in the 1940s and completed in 1973, taking 14 years instead of the estimated 4 years. The project team included Jorn UtZon and Ove Arup as the main designers. The design of the project was a technological move that involved the use of additive architecture. The interiors were made of timber, and the ceiling was made of plywood box beams. Interesting facts include the inclusion of the Sydney Opera House in the World Heritage list in 2007 and the use of sea water for air conditioning.

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SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE PROJECT
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SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE PROJECT
Introduction
Located in Sydney Australia, the Sydney Opera House is one of the best iconic buildings of the
20th century. Being a multi-venue is located adjacent to Royal Botanic Gardens and Sydney
CBD. The initiation and planning for the project started in 1940s which was due to director of
the state conservation music sir Eugene Goossen who proposed for theatrical production center
that was big enough to accommodate all the performances in Sydney and other parts of Australia
at large (Dillon, 2014).
Queen Elizabeth was the chief guest during the inauguration ceremony that was carried out in
1973, the entire project having have consumed 102 million dollars as the total construction cost.
Even though the initial construction cost for the entire project was estimated at 7 million dollars
the cost of construction for the entire project increased dramatically because the government had
to pay an extra cost in order to make the project a social monument of the 20th century.
The project took 14 years to be completed centrally to the estimated construction period of
4years, the actual construction of the project was initiated in 1959 and the project was completed
in 1973.During the construction time there were approximately 10,000 construction workers at
any given time which recorded one of the highest number of construction workers who have ever
been present at the construction site in the history of construction in Australia (Fromonot, 2016).
Even though the project is perceived as a single venue, the sy7dney opera house has the abi8lity
to host approximately 1500performances annually with an approximated population of 1.2
million people. The performances in the Sydney opera house are usually represented by three

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different local companies which include The Sydney Theatre Company (Millen, 2014), The
Opera company which is in Australia, and lastly the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Project description
Project team
Jorn UtZon and Ove Arup were the main designers acting as an architect and a Structural
engineer respectively. Other than the two individuals mentioned above, the Sydney Opera house
had a good number of subcontractors who were seriously involved in the execution of the
project. The two (Jorn UtZon and Ove Arup) and the subcontractors were involved the heating,
mechanical, ventilating and all 0other design works of the project. During the construction of this
project there was no construction manager instead Jorn UtZon was responsible for all the
management and was responsible for all making all the decisions regarding to the design and
construction of the entire project.
The structural engineering firm (Ove Arup’s firm) and other out6sourced companied mainly for
consultancy purposes also acted as the project stakeholders. The public was also an indirect
stakeholder of the project since it was actively involved in the funding through a lottery game
that was established by the government (Lewis, 2011).
Design of the project
The design of this project can be described and it is considered as a technological move which
would lead to excellent projects by Zaha Hadid and frank Gehry. One of the main which was
realized during the design was the shape the roof would take after presentation of the design on
the podium (Millen, 2014).

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During the initial sketches by Jorn UtZon. It was crystal clear that the shells were discovered to
take the shape that is moderately square which is free from concrete sail shapes that were to be
enclosed by the tiles in white. Things didn’t work as expected during the construction because,
the construction workers were not able to contracted the expected performance space (Moy,
2012). The design team had a lot of determination to ensure that a long lasting solution was
achieved and finally they were able to change the shells to form parts of spheres and parabolas.
Even though the idea seemed to work another challenge rose on the form the shapes would take
and the technique of attaching the tiles.
Number of assessments were carried out which concluded that the technique that was
traditionally used was not the best in terms of fixing the tiles to the concrete because the fixed
tiles would drop due to the variable thermal properties associated with the tiles. At varying
temperatures and other conditions, the concrete and adhesive would expand and contract hence
the reason for instability. The other great challenge that came across was how to place over 1
million tiles by hand. (Murray, 2015).
Construction of Sydney Opera House
The construction of this project was carried out in three phases;
Phase I occurred in the year (1959- 1963). This stage involved the construction of the podium’s
upper part.
Phase II that took place in the year (1963-1967) this stage convoluted the design of the outer
shell and its construction.

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Phase III which took place in the year (1967-1973) It was the final phase of the construction
which involved the over construction and detailing the interiors.
The construction of this project was a historical process that involved technological
breakthroughs and rethinking of the outdated and traditional practices in the construction
industry. In this project the design team used the additive architecture that involved the use of
pre-fabricated materials that are usually made onsite with the aid of incremental and organic
assembly. The main reason behind the use of additive architecture was to assist the builders
achieve a unique art which was initially achieved by craftsmen.
The builders constructed tiles beds under the monumental steps. The beds were unequally
constructed in order to be the exact measurement of the various ribs that were used to finish the
shells.
Materials used interiors
Jorn UtZon Imaged to use timer as the main construction material for the interiors, this is due to
its pleasant colour, tactility and warmth that were to provide a disparity with the monochrome,
the podium and hefty load bearing concrete of the sails.
The ceiling of the Sydney Opera House was to be made of plywood box beams that were to be
radiating out of the stage and then they were to hand at a point where the shells and the concrete
are arched. The project beams are made of two boxes made from plywood which are together
bolted (Shofner, 2014).

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Existing Project Facts
The following are existing numerous facts concerning the project;
It was in the year 2007 where the Sydney Opera House was included in the World heritage list.
The entire project was projected to take 4years but instead it took 14 years to be completed,
recording the highest number of construction works in a single construction site in the history of
Australia (Watson, 2013).
All the 1 million tile4ds that were covering the entire structure were made in Sweden
Over 230 designers participated in the competition for the design of the project in 1955. Jorn
UtZon emerged the winner pocketing $50000.
Annually is approximated that the Sydney Opera House receives over 8.2 million visitors.
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Sydney Opera House is air-conditioned by the application of a cooling system which makes use
of sea water which circulates from the sea through a 35km pipeline to power the heating and air
conditioning systems (Woolley, 2016).
Conclusion
In can be concluded that, The Sydney Opera House is amongst the top iconic building of the 20th
century, which usually attracts approximately over 8.2 million visitors. The initiation and
planning for the project started in 1940s which was due to director of the state conservation
music sir Eugene Goossen who proposed for theatrical production center that was big enough to
accommodate all the performances in Sydney and other parts of Australia at large.

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References
Dillon, P. (2014). The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and
Beyond. London: Candlewick Press,.
Fromonot, F. (2016). Jørn Utzon: the Sydney Opera House. Perth: Gingko.
Lewis, S. (2011). Sydney Opera House and Botanic Gardens - A Self-Guided Walk. Chicago:
Taleist,.
Millen, E. (2014). Sydney Opera House, Gondwana Rainforests, Blue Mountains and more.
Chicago: Redback Publishing.
Moy, M. (2012). Sydney Opera House: Idea to Icon. Chicago: Alpha Orion Press.
Murray, P. (2015). The Saga of Sydney Opera House: The Dramatic Story of the Design and
Construction of the Icon of Modern Australia. Auckland: Routledge.
Shofner, S. (2014). Sydney Opera House. London: The Creative Company.
Watson, A. (2013). Building a Masterpiece: The Sydney Opera House. Sydney: Powerhouse
Publishing.
Woolley, K. (2016). Reviewing the Performance: The Design of the Sydney Opera House.
Sydney: Watermark Press.

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