Sydney Opera House

. . . a symbolic design sketch grows into one of the world’s most exciting buildings.

C onstructions of Australia’s “billowing sails” Opera

House has followed an entirely unorthodox pattern.
Designed by a young Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, the
possible. As the computer program got underway, Ut-
zon’s preliminary concept of free space curves had to be
abandoned in the face of analysis and construction dif-
drawings were almost never submitted because he ficulties. It has proved possible to manipulate curves so
thought it would be useless. The assessing committee that the tightness and grace of the original concept is re-
recognized the originality of the concept expressed, and tained, yet the fact that they are part of a single sphere
also its perfect suitability for the site. The decision took cannot be detected.
a great deal of courage since the drawings included no At one point it was thought that all the shells could be
details or even evidence of structural feasibility. It has constructed in the conventional way strengthened by
been necessary at times to design the structure by ex- ribs. This proved impossible and, as finally evolved, the
periment while building, and to invent techniques to roof is a totally precast, prestressed arched-rib structure.
solve problems that have never arisen before in the his- There are four main shells over each auditorium, the
tory of construction Originally the cost was estimated to highest of which rises to 221 feet.
be $8 million, but could rise to $100 million. All the foundation columns for the shells are dissoci-
Construction was planned in three stages. Stage 1 cov- ated from the horizontal long-span slabs and walls of the
ered the terraced base; Stage 2 is the shell construction base structure. They are arranged in units of four either
still in progress; and Stage 3 will be the finishing and fit- side of the axes of the two main auditoria. Each unit is
ting operations. A large part of the building is supported tied together transversely and longitudinally with post-
on some 700 3-foot diameter, cased bored piers. The tensioned connecting beams to restrain any tendency to
work was difficult because of tides. The presence of the movement under load. From the top of each column
sea water also meant that the whole structure below springs a site-cast arch pedestal and a shell pedestal. The
ground level had to be built as a number of waterproof arch pedestals provide the foundation for the side and
reinforced-concrete compartments. The slab and steps louvered shells; the shell pedestals provide the founda-
of the concourse cover some 75,000 square feet with tion for the main shells. The main lift of the pedestals
varying spans up to 164 feet. The slab is surfaced with 6 was 17 feet high and was placed non-stop. The pedestal
by 4-foot panels of artificial granite with open joints be- forms were spherical, fan-shaped assemblies made up
tween them to carry away rainwater. in panels of the same width as the arch ribs of the shells.
Without a computer the work would have been im- Erection and concreting of the shells is being carried
 the auditorium axis formed as a box beam. The side
shells are finally clad with 2 1/2-inch thick site-precast
slabs as an outer skin. Connections between the slabs
and the beams and arches are site-cast to ensure rigidi-
ty.
The main shells are built out rib by rib, from the side
shells. As the segments for a rib are positioned they are
jointed with an epoxy resin to transfer shear and stress-
ing loads. Temporary stress is then applied until all the
segments are in place. When they are in place, perma-
nent stress is applied through 21 stranded cables, 0.6
inch in diameter. The last step is to locate a precast key-
ing ridge piece at the top of the arch to make the two
halves continuous. The ridge piece is first positioned
with a 3-inch concrete joint and then post-tensioned
into the ribs by means of three cables. During erection
each rib is allowed to deflect independently, until finally
they are post-tensioned together laterally through thin
site-cast joints. The prestressing operations at the site
Construction of the “sails.” Site precasting yards are seen are very complex. In all, some 21,000 stressing and
in the foreground.
10,000 de-stressing operations are involved as compared
to say 1,500 and 2,000 operations for a major bridge.
out with three 240-foot high tower cranes— the largest of The final stage of main shell construction is the fitting
their type in the world. The roofs are made up of some of external cladding in the form of some 4,000 spherical
2,500 precast segments, 15 feet long and varying in width precast “lids” faced with a specially developed white ce-
from 1 to 7 feet. The segments weigh from 5 to 14 tons. ramic tile—the “canvas” of the “sails.” These lids which
They are placed on a movable, telescopic steel erection weigh up to 3 tons are also being precast on site; they
arch which is adjustable to match the geometry of the are made of 3/4-inch thick ferrocrete, waterproofed and
shell shape. Each rib of segments, as it is erected, is sup- insulated. Some 1,400,000 tiles are needed. The lids are
ported on the previous rib and on the movable arch, being bolted to the arch ribs.
which moves forward as each rib is completed. There are
up to 17 ribs in a shell; in the shortest ribs there are only
4 precast segments; in the longest rib there are 13 seg-
ments.
All the precast elements have been made at the site.
They are cast in ten beds five elements long. Each ele-
ment is cast on to the end of the previous one, the end
surface of the one providing the end form for the next.
Steel-framed plywood was used throughout as form-
work. A very high quality finish is obtained by planing
the plywood to a smooth finish and then coating it with
a fiberglass-polyester resin laminate. A re-use rate for
formwork of 30 to 40 times has been achieved. The con-
crete used is extremely dense; averaging about 155
pounds per cubic foot for the ribs. It is estimated that
about 120,000 tons of concrete will be used in all for the
project; the weight of the roof shells alone is 22,000 tons.
The side shells were erected first as follows: precast
segments were located on top of each arch pedestal and
stressed to it permanently. Further segments were then
placed until the arches meet at the central plane of the
shell between 70 and 150 feet above the tops of the foun- Top view of Opera House showing location and positioning of
dation columns. When all four arches of a unit were shells.
completed and post-tensioned, a precast crown piece
was inserted and site-cast in place. The arches are
braced in pairs either side of the auditorium center-line PUBLICATION #C670335
by precast members that act as beam-columns. In addi- Copyright © 1967, The Aberdeen Group
tion there is a main brace between the arches parallel to All rights reserved