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.