Sydney Opera House

A distinctive building in Sydney Harbour

Sydney Opera House is located on the peninsula of Benelong Point with distinctive sail-like roots giving the impression of floating on waters of Sydney Harbour. Despite its name, it is not only an opera house and contains several performance and exhibition venues. This includes a concert hall seating c.2600 people, recording facilities, Joan Sutherland Opera Theatre, and an outdoor performance arena.

Photo by Fred Rivett on Unsplash

The distinctive design - pioneering Expressionist - was created by Jorn Utzon and led to his winning a design competition for the site in 1957, with the idea of a group of parabolic precast concrete shells forming the curved roof arches. Construction began in 1957 and was finally completed in 1973.

The Opera House has a binary structure: two sets of interlocking parabolic arches make the roofs of 2 main halls with a single entrance foyer. Although the arches are made of concrete they are faced with off-white glazed tiles in a chevron pattern following the shells. The two main buildings are among a series of terraced pedestrian concourses which are accessed by the Monumental Steps.