Sydney Opera House conservation plan

–65–LIGHTINGLighting has a dual function: first, to emphasise the architectural characterand sublime effect of the Opera House and its major publicinteriors without interfering with views from the building; second, toprovide light to enable the building to function with reasonableefficiency. The latter should be arranged in a way that does notcompromise the former.Floodlighting of shellsFrom the beginning, the intention was to provide “gentle” or “lowlevel” floodlighting (Waldram, SOH, 1968, 2). The current floodlighting,designed by Julius, Poole and Gibson, was constructed as part of the1988 bicentennial work. The lights were erected on slender 12.5 metrepoles at the northern end of the lower forecourt and on the Man o’War Jetty (fig.48), and were fitted with control louvres. The heightenabled the light to bathe the full arc of the shells and the louvreskept the light above the eyes of people on the podium both withinand without the glass walls. In this way their view of the settingremained unaffected by glare. In location, directional control andintensity the present floodlighting is a reasonably successful executionof the early intentions (ibid., 2). However, technical advances may makeimprovements possible.Policy 20.1 Any adaptation of floodlighting should:• retain a monochromatic and medium intensity effect just brightenough to be distinctive in the Sydney night sky, but not harsh;• achieve as much modelling of the curvature of the shells as technicallimitations permit;• avoid hard horizontal shadow lines on the surface of the shells;• direct light in such a way that it does not interfere with the viewfrom the glass-walled foyers and from the external podium decks.From time to time, special effects may be required as a temporarymeasure. The Olympic Games bid celebrations in 1993 were an example.Policy 20.2 Temporary lighting for a particular manifestation is acceptableprovided it can be erected and completely removed without damage toany original fabric.See also ‘laser projections’ on page 90.Forecourt and podium stepsLighting is needed to provide modest illumination to the forecourt,Tarpeian cliff and podium steps. This is at present supplied by floodson a very tall slender pole set back against the trees at the edge of theBotanic Gardens and is supplemented by tinted floods softly illuminatingthe cliff. An identical pylon stood against the cliff near the presentgatehouse but was removed as redundant, presumably during the 1988repaving of the forecourt and development of the lower forecourt.Pedestrian ways on the periphery of the forecourt are illuminated bylamp standards and by lights concealed in handrails.Additional light is provided to the southern part of the podium andsteps by floods set at the apex of the Concert Hall and Opera Theatreshells. The baffles which originally shielded the lights have beenremoved and they are now a source of irritating glare.48. Sketch showing location of pylons forfloodlights. JSK 1993.