Renewal of the Sydney Opera House’s Joan Sutherland Theatre

At its 40th Anniversary in 2013, the Sydney Opera House (SOH) launched a decade of Renewal works to prepare the building for the future generations of artists, audiences and visitors. The Joan Sutherland Theatre (JST) upgrades included accessibility upgrades to make the JST a more inclusive and accessible venue to all, whilst, preserving the design excellence of a World Heritage listed building and complying with current regulatory requirements. The guidelines set for the project were to promote the principles of equity and social inclusion while reinforcing positive attitudes about people with disabilities. It was also expected that the design team would work in synergy with the heritage values of the SOH which included the Opera House’s Utzon Design Principles and the Conservation Management Plan. The project brief addressed three main areas: the JST auditorium, with the upgrade of Door 21 and new removable brushbox platforms allowing for wheelchair accessible seating and circulation in the lower stall; the public amenities, offering an equitable experience to all patrons with new and improved facilities; and the foyers, where a passageway now links the Southern to the Northern Foyers, made fully accessible via a bespoke bronze and glass lift cleverly designed to fit between the existing concrete ribs and facade complex geometry. Each area presented a series of spatial challenges and buildability issues due to the proximity to both structural and heritage elements. The passageway was the first of major intervention works undertaken: the upgrade of this space from under-utilized service area to front of house required the lowering of the southern access finish level and cutting a one metre wide walkway compressed between two existing structural walls. Crafted detailing of the brushbox timber panels, expressed concrete walls and bronze accent elements dress the space establishing it as a natural extension of the foyers language and referencing both Utzon and Peter Hall’s work. In approaching the Northern Foyers from the passageway, the profile of the lift is revealed in the semidarkness of the caves. This great example of engineering is the result of a successful collaboration between designers, engineers and suppliers. The structure, that appears light and ‘effortless’, in actual fact is working hard to support the existing concrete ribs and precast stairs. The facade, altered to make space for the lift, elegantly frames the transparent shaft, almost dissolving in the reflection of the harbour. At a first glance little appears to have changed in the JST however, all the small individual elements of the project, have contributed to changing the way in which the JST is experienced, especially for people with access needs.