For the last five decades, the Sydney Opera House has been a global spectacle: with its whimsical rooftop sails and prime location on the Sydney Harbour, it has become not only the city's most recognizable symbol, but that of all of Australia. While presiding over the building's October 20, 1973, opening, the late Queen Elizabeth II called it “unique”—and while its architecture certainly remains a standout feature, what makes the structure truly forward-thinking is the degree to which Danish architect Jørn Utzon drafted it with sustainability in mind.
Selected from 233 entries in a 1956 international competition sponsored by then-New South Wales Premiere Joseph Cahill, Utzon’s design tied visual ingenuity with thoughtful elements, considering color and surface texture to reduce natural heat absorption of the one million ceramic tiles that make up the roof sails. He also took advantage of the site's location on Bennelong Point, conserving water by designing the building to draw its supply from the sea. These features were all part of Utzon’s goal to make a building with a 250-year lifespan—features that, while considered smart today, were especially innovative at the time, when most new builds were expected to last just 80 years.
That precedent has helped to ensure that sustainability remains a top priority for the Opera House, maintained not only through the upkeep and modernization of its original features, but in the continual reassessment of its operations, from its waste management program to the fostering of wildlife diversity in the surrounding waters. These efforts have led it to become one of the only UNESCO World Heritage Sites to earn the highest-possible 6-Star Green Performance Rating by the Green Building Council Australia, a rating systems similar to the U.S.’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), this past May.
When it comes to enacting environmental responsibility, “people look to the Opera House for inspiration, or as a beacon,” says Sydney Opera House's Sustainability Manager Emma Bombonato. “If a 50-year old building can do all of these things, that means that it can happen in other types of buildings, whether a school, office building, or other cultural institution or performing arts venue.” On the heels of its golden anniversary, we chatted with Bombonato about this global influence, and what the future looks like for this timeless—and ever-timely—institution.
How did Jørn Utzon’s original design consider environmental factors?
Sustainability was part of the DNA from the very beginning. If you look quite closely, you'll see that the tiles on the sails are actually made of two different types of ceramic tile [made of clay and crushed stone], referred to as snow [owing to its creamy matte surface] and ice [due to its glossier shade of white]. They have different textured surfaces and therefore they reflect light differently, which helps since more heat is reflected rather than absorbed. They're also self-cleaning—every time it rains, they're designed to basically wash and clean themselves, which is pretty cool.
Being located on the Harbour, we use a seawater system to heat and cool the [venue], with about 34 kilometers (more than 21 miles) of pipe located beneath the sails that circulate water. Instead of using potable freshwater, or any sort of cooling towers that you would typically see in an office or a high rise-building, [this system] saves a significant amount of water. We've, of course, had upgrades to retrofit an older building with smart technology, but even 50 years on, the system is considered efficient. The new technology enables us to reduce our electricity consumption by about 90 percent.
Jumping ahead to today, what aspects of the Opera House’s more recent sustainability endeavors stand out?
People are very interested in our waste management plan, which is truly bespoke. We were plateauing at a 50 percent recycle rate and struggling to find ways to increase it, so we worked closely with our food and beverage operators [across our six bars and restaurants] because they produce 80 percent of our total waste. Each has their own menu, but they're all passionate about and committed to using local produce and thinking about a menu that reduces both preparation and end-use waste. We've also implemented a system to collect any leftover food and organics to send to a composting facility. It’s taken about five years, but we've gone to a 90 percent recycle rate.
You’re also making an impact with the marine life surrounding the building.
Yes—it’s a really cool project implemented with marine ecologists from the University of Technology Sydney, inspired by another project around Sydney called Living Sea Walls, [which help revive the biodiversity of urbanized underwater areas] by embedding structures onto seawalls, giving small marine species nooks and crannies to live in. We designed ones made out of stainless steel as part of a research project to understand how a structure augments the species biodiversity in an area that has an existing artificial seawall, like ours. We now have 28 of these structures (they're about the size of R2D2, for anyone who's a Star Wars fan) on the eastern side. They were implemented in 2017, and over time they have become encrusted with different types of plant species. Now, there are nine additional species surveyed there, including small juvenile fish, octopus, brim, and stingrays. We even have the critically endangered White’s seahorse, which we surveyed about 12 months ago. It’s a nice way for us to contribute to the broader environment.
How else are you sharing this messaging with visitors?
Being climate positive also is also about embedding messages into the programs that we put on. We had a great show called Dimanche, which was all about climate change; it was done creatively and told a story, while also weaving in those messages.
Achieving the Green Building Council’s rating is no easy feat—what went into it?
The six-star rating is the culmination of almost 10 years worth of work. When the sustainability policy and plan was first enacted in 2010, a lot of resources were dedicated to sustainability roles. One of the tricky things about the Opera House being so unique is that you can't really compare it with any other performing arts building in terms of electricity, water, or waste. So this [rating system] is really important because it actually enables us to compare our performance against ourselves.
What else is on the sustainability to-do list?
We've been carbon neutral since 2018—and part of that process is to make sure that we're still reducing our emissions. We have a plan to be climate positive by 2030. We are engaging with our supply chain and working on emissions reduction over time. We’re also looking at the electrification of the building, so we're removing gas completely and looking at more innovative technology. We have a 100 percent renewable power purchase agreement, which means we take electricity from a wind farm and a solar farm in New South Wales. Looking at battery storage is also a really important part of how we make that system work smarter for us over time.
What do the next 50 years look like?
A lot of people say they look to the Opera House as a north star, so we want to be able to show by example with our environmental and social sustainability programs. That's probably one of the best parts of my job: helping apply all the things that we've done here elsewhere.
