’No measure’ for opera house

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32497, 6 January 1971, Page 10

’No measure’ for opera house

The main reason for the huge increase in the cost of the Sydney Opera House—from $4.2m in 1959 to sBsm 10 years later—is that a building of its nature had never before been constructed, according to a man closely associated with the controversial project.

The man, Mr S. J. Faircloth, administrator for the constructing company, arrived in Auckland at the week-end in the cruise liner Shota Rustavelli. “There was no-measure to go by,” said Mr Faircloth. “When they came to construct it, they came up against all sorts of problems which meant that the cost would be higher.” Mr Faircloth, who has held his position at the site for the last eight years, revealed some of the problems. The elegant, sweeping roof shells, made of pre-cast concrete, took four years to build.

The geometric measurements for the roof had to be worked out by the largest computer in Australia—the one at Woomera Range—and nine months passed before

the computations were complete. In addition to various structural problems, the site has been plagued with industrial stoppages and disputes. But Mr Faircloth predicted that if labour relations were stable over the next two years, the building would be finished by 1972. Because the building had been financed from lotteries it would be debt free when completed, said Mr Faircloth, who remains convinced that future generations will view the opera house as one of the major sights and attractions in Australia.