With a design life of 250 years as a performing arts centre, Sydney Opera House is acknowledged as an icon that is an architectural masterpiece and an asset of national significance. The facility comprises 7 theatres, 37 plant rooms, 12 lifts and over 1000 rooms. Sydney Opera House employs 300 full time staff and a further 300 part time staff, delivering over 2500 performances per annum.
Arguably one of the most unique facilities in the world, it provides a range of facilities management (FM) challenges, and presents a very public opportunity to research and create innovative FM strategies and models to benefit the Australian FM industry and the economy as a whole.
The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Construction Innovation and the Australian Government's FM Action Agenda chose Sydney Opera House as the focus of its FM Exemplar Project to develop innovative strategies across three research themes (Digital Modelling, Services Procurement and Performance Benchmarking). The findings have been integrated into an FM solution beyond its component parts to demonstrate the role of FM as a business enabler.
Lead by Director Stephen Ballesty (also Facility Management Association of Australia's member of the year), Rider Levett Bucknall was a key member of the team dedicated to this innovative research, emphasising Rider Levett Bucknall's global leadership in the facilities management field.
"The project focussed on digital modelling, services procurement and performance benchmarking themes as dimensions of the FM equation, which when integrated, improve FM's ability to support an organisation's objectives. In the report our research outcomes were then aligned within the broader context of Sydney Opera House's total asset management plan in support of their organisation's business enterprise" said Mr Ballesty.
John McCarthy, Chairman of FM Action Agenda stated "the FM Exemplar project has made a significant contribution to the body of FM industry knowledge and has demonstrated Rider Levett Bucknall's leadership in the FM profession globally".
The FM Exemplar Project: Sydney Opera House wins the Facility Management Association of Australia's Rider Hunt Terotech Industry Achievement Award for Excellence in Facility Management Strategy and Practice. The award was presented at the FMA Australia Ideaction 2007 Conference gala dinner in Sydney.
Read the Executive Summary of 'FM as a business enabler - Solutions for managing the built environment'
Read the report 'FM as a business enabler - Solutions for managing the built environment'