Cristina Garcia-Ochoa Martin
The Sydney Opera House is one of the best-known iconic buildings, recognized around the world as a global symbol of Australia. The Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the architecture competition set out by the New South Wales government for the new building in 1957, and the construction started in 1959. The project was originally scheduled for four years, with a budget of AUS $7 million. It ended up taking 14 years to be completed and cost AUS $102 million.
The Sydney Opera House could probably be seen as one of the most disastrous construction projects in history not only from the financial point of view but also for the whole management plan. Lets analyze the main reasons that led to it.
First of all, at the beginning of any project goals and objectives have to be clearly defined by the client to provide a guideline for what the project must complete. There are three main factors: time, cost, and quality. In the case of the Sydney Opera House the last one was the most important, as it was an almost unrestricted goal of the project and the reason why it was launched. No indications regarding time or cost limits were either provided for the competition. Thus, the architects were allowed total freedom in their designs.
After Utzon was selected, he presented his “Red Book” in March 1958, which consisted of the Sydney National Opera House report. It comprised some indications such as plans, sections, reports by consultants, etc. The funds came almost entirely from a dedicated lottery, so the project was not a financial burden for the government. Regarding time planning the goal was to complete the construction at the end of 1962 and have the grand opening at the start of 1963. The project should have lasted four years.
