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Case Study Of Sydney

Opera House
Architect: Jorn Utzon

Presented by: Gonzales, Karen Jean F.

 DESCRIPTION
Sydney Opera House is one of Australia’s landmarks and one of the most famous art
performance centres in the world. The need for existence of such a magnificent
z
building came about when the Sydney Town Hall, which was the common venue,
could not suit the demand for modern times in theatrical productions. The structure
was designed under the watch of a “Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, who won the design
contest in 1957 out of the 233 entries made” (Utzon 2002, p.11). The Sydney Opera
House was to be designed and built to house 4200 people. The project started in 1957.
Its completion was anticipated in1963. However, the construction was finished in
1973, which was ten years later than anticipated, but with a high degree of delivery of
ENVIRONMENT AND
anticipated quality and glamour. MICRO-CLIMATE The region of Sydney is subject
to phenomena typical of a microclimate,
The climate of Sydney is humid subtropical, namely in late spring and summer,
shifting from mild and cool in winter to warm and where the western suburbs would be
hot in the summer, with no extreme seasonal hotter than the Sydney CBD by 6–10 °C
differences as the weather is moderated by proximity (11–18 °F)[54] due to urban sprawl
to the ocean, although more contrasting temperatures exacerbating the urban heat island effect
are recorded in the inland western suburbs. Despite and less exposure to mitigating sea
the fact that there is no distinct dry or wet season, breezes which cool down Sydney's
rainfall peaks in the first few months of the year and eastern edge and would fail to move 9
is at its lowest just around the middle of the year, km (5.6 mi) inland. The dramatic
though precipitation can be erratic throughout the temperature difference between coastal
year. Sydney’s climate is likely to be and inland areas is caused by a
hit by a further increase in average There will also continue to be a marked combination of desert-warmed air from
temperatures, greater levels of air variability in yearly rainfall, an increase in drought central Australia reaching the west, and
pollution, more extreme weather events and bushfire conditions, and a severe threat to as well as density of housing, lack of
and a spike in the number of extreme many coastal areas through the sea-level rise. vegetation or open spaces, and the Blue
heat days each year. Mountains which help trap the hot air.
USER BEHAVIOR AND
REQUIREMENTS
FORMS AND FUNCTION
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The building comprises
multiple performance venues,
which together host well over The design of the Sydney Opera House was inspired by nature, its
1,500 performances annually, forms, functions and colours. Utzon was influenced in his designs by bird
attended by more than 1.2 wings, the shape and form of clouds, shells, walnuts and palm trees. He looked
million people.[7] Performances upon nature for guidance when designing, as nature over time combined both
are presented by numerous efficiency and beauty, hand in hand.
performing artists, including The roof structures of the Opera House are called ‘shells’. The design of the
three resident companies: Opera ‘shells’ was one of the most difficult aspects of the building’s design. Jorn
Australia, the Sydney Theatre Utzon claimed that the final design of the shells, was inspired by peeling an
Company and the Sydney orange. It is said that the shells of the 14 separate roofs, form a sphere if
Symphony Orchestra. As one of combined.
the most popular visitor
attractions in Australia, the site is
visited by more than eight
million people annually, and
approximately 350,000 visitors
take a guided tour of the building
each year.[8] The building is
managed byThe the Sydney
buildingOpera
is a multi-use performance space that is intended for use by
House Trust, an agency of the
various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre.The intended
Newmultiple
South Wales
use ofState
performing arts centers in this sense differentiates them from single-
Government.
purpose concert halls, opera houses or theatres, although the actual use of single-
purpose spaces for other than their intended use is widespread.A cluster of
performance spaces, either separate buildings or under one roof, each space designed
for a specific purpose such as symphonic music or chamber music or theatre, but
multi-purpose as a whole. The modern version of this came into being only in the
1960s.
SITEzANALISYS
North-east Moonsoon

N
The climate of Sydney, the
capital of New South Wales, lying
on the southeast coast of Australia,
is subtropical oceanic, with mild
winters and warm summers.
The wind blows frequently,
especially from October to April,
that is, in the warm season (being
that it's in the Southern
Sun RiseHemisphere, the seasons in Sydney
are reversed in comparison to
Europe or North America).
In the warm half-year, from
Sunset October to March, heatwaves may
occur, with the wind blowing from
the desert, which can raise the
temperature above 35 °C (95 °F),
South-west Moonsoon though for short periods
(sometimes, only one day); in
addition, the wind can bring sand
and dust from the desert.
 CONSTRUCTION AND
z
MATERIAL USED
The Sydney Opera House started in 1959.
It was built on Bennelong Point adjacent to Jon
Bradfiled's Sydney Harbour Bridge where it would
be visible from all sides.
At the centre of Utzon’s distinctive design was a
set of interlocking vaulted shells that became one
of the most challenging engineering projects ever
attempted. Each of the shells is made of pre-cast
concrete rib segments rising to a ridge beam, held
together by 350 km of tensioned steel cable.
Geometrically, each half of each shell is a segment
of a sphere; however, the 'sails' were originally
designed as parabolas, for which an engineering Although described as reinforced-
solution could not be found. concrete shells, they are in fact a series of
concrete ribs that support a total of 2,194
precast-concrete roof panels which are in turn
clad with over 1 million tiles. The tile surface
is highly detailed and uses two types of tile -
one glossy white, one matte cream - with
clearly expressed joints.

The opera house is supported on 580 concrete piers

The design of the shells involved one of the earliest
uses of computer analysis to understand the complex
forces they would be subject to, and it took some years to
find the solution - that all the shells would be created as
sections from a sphere, supported on arched ribs.
sunk up to 25 metres below sea level. The two main halls are
positioned side by side, with glass curtain walls revealing
the foyer spaces. The Monumental Steps, nearly 100 m
wide, lead up to the two halls.
METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION

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In submitting the winning design, the architect, Jørn
Utzon, conceived the scheme of the roof without any
engineering consultation or advice. When head engineer Ove
Arup and his team began their preliminary design of the roof,
they quickly realised that the thin shell Utzon had envisaged
would not be possible. This was because the shape of the roof
introduced large bending moments, regardless of any
conceivable structural system.
While the base of the building was constructed, Arup
and his team spent six years working with Utzon, refining the
design of the roof to arrive at a solution that was
architecturally pleasing, structurally sufficient and relatively
cost effective. Arup canvassed at least 12 iterations for the While the base of the building was
geometry of the shells, ranging from parabolas to arcs to constructed, Arup and his team spent six years
ellipsoids. The final solution involved forming each shell working with Utzon, refining the design of the roof
with segmented post-tensioned, precast concrete ribs, all to arrive at a solution that was architecturally
having their external surfaces described by the same sphere. pleasing, structurally sufficient and relatively cost
By fabricating similar elements forming part of a spherical effective. Arup canvassed at least 12 iterations for
geometry, it was possible to maximise the use of repetitive the geometry of the shells, ranging from parabolas
elements in the construction of the shells. to arcs to ellipsoids. The final solution involved
forming each shell with segmented post-tensioned,
precast concrete ribs, all having their external
surfaces described by the same sphere. By
fabricating similar elements forming part of a
spherical geometry, it was possible to maximise the
use of repetitive elements in the construction of the
shells.
 DESIGN
STRATEGIES
z CONCLUSION
The Opera House's Although the Sydney Opera House is a
architect, Jørn Utzon, masterpiece worth reckoning, there were
incorporated sustainable design numerous risks and problems that were associated
elements such as a seawater- to it. For starters, the building even began being
cooling system into the building constructed before its design was fully complete
which opened in 1973. The and this brought about the risk of confusion and
Environmental Sustainability possible bringing down to rectify the plan.
Plan 2020-2023 builds on that
legacy. The alteration of the design added to extra
The Opera House has been
awarded a 5 star Green Star performance expenses being spent and additional time required
rating from the Green Building Council a thing that could have been avoided if proper
of Australia (GBCA), becoming one of designing had been done initially. Though the
the first World Heritage-listed buildings original architect of the design left way before the
globally to achieve the certification. A completion of the building together with his
number of successes including the Opera drawings, the completion of the project was
House’s recent Carbon Neutral finished and opened as a performing art centre.
certification, implementation of a new
waste management program, efficiencies
in water use and a more than 9%
reduction in energy use have enabled the
Opera
After first announcing the project Houseatoseries
in 2017, achieve the certification.
of modular artificial
reefs have now been installed alongside the Opera House sea wall. The
pioneering project, led by UTS Professor of Marine Ecology David Booth and
funded through a NSW Government Environmental Trust Restoration &
Rehabilitation grant, aims to explore new ways to increase marine biodiversity
and support native species in Sydney Harbour.
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Retrieved December 9, 2021, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House.

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December 9, 2021, from https://www.climateactive.org.au/be-climate-active/climate-
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Sydney Opera house- inspired by nature. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2021, from
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