The Sydney Opera House has been operational for 28 years and has become a worldwide icon, competing as a performance venue and tourist attraction on an international scale. It symbolizes vision and creativity and is one of the busiest arts centres in the world hosting 2,600 performances per year. Arup (the original structural engineer for the building) has an historical association with this iconic building.
Recent work by Jørn Utzon, assisted by Richard Johnson of the Australian firm of Johnson Pilton Walker Architects, has led to the release in May 2002 of the Utzon Design Principles, aimed at guiding the ongoing development of the building. These Principles strongly reflect the Sydney Opera House as a place for people, not as an unchanging monument. Arup Acoustics was formed in 1980 as part of the consulting engineering firm Arup and has established a leading international reputation in opera theatre acoustics through completed projects such as Glyndebourne Opera House and The Royal Opera House, London and on current projects such as the Copenhagen and Oslo Opera Houses and the Coliseum, London.
Arup Acoustics projects in Australia include City Recital Hall, Sydney; Melbourne Concert Hall; Walsh Bay Theatre (the new home for the Sydney Theatre Company); Federation Concert Hall, Hobart and the State Theatre at the Victorian Arts Centre.
(Lee Baldock)
