Sydney Opera House drawings

An International Competition for the design of a National Opera House at Bennelong Point was held in 1956.

Jørn Utzon competition drawings

These are the original competition drawings for which the assessors of the Committee awarded Jørn Utzon first prize of £5,000 on 29 January 1957. As a result Mr Utzon was commissioned by the Government of New South Wales to do final drawings for the Opera House, and to supervise its construction.

The design competition attracted 233 entries from around the world. Construction began in 1959 and was completed in 1973.

View the drawings (NRS 12825) in the State Archives catalogue

Other competitors' designs

According to the "Brown Book", designs submitted for the international competition - except the design that placed first - were to be returned to competitors free of charge within four weeks after the closing date of the competition.

Copies of some competition designs from other competitors are held at the State Library of NSW.

Search the catalogue for records about the Opera House competition held in the State Archives Collection.

Examples of records about the Opera House competition

• Department of Public Works; NRS-12702, "An International Competition for a National Opera House at Bennelong Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Conditions and Programme" ("Brown Book"), 1955. This volume is digitised.
• Department of Public Works; NRS-12825, Competition drawings submitted by Jørn Utzon to the Opera House Committee, 1956. The drawings are digitised.
• Department of Public Works; NRS-12703, Opera House Competition: Memorandum to Competitors, 06/02/1957. This memorandum is digitised.
• Opera House Committee; NRS-19524, Unregistered files, 1955-1967. See the list of files in this series.
• Opera House Committee; NRS-19526, Working papers, 1954-1968. Includes draft copies of international design competition program