In this post, we talk about some notable roofs here in Australia - the perfect roof is a combination of design, innovation and functionality.

Sydney Opera House

Surely this gem isn’t just known for its superb architecture and overall design as a building, we take a closer look at the roof component. The Sydney Opera House was originally a design competition in excess of 200 entries from architects from all over the world. The winner’s design is what the Opera House is today. At the time of construction, however, no one knew exactly how challenging it would be to construct the roof!

Requiring somewhat ‘shell-like’ roof structures with the use of spherical geometry to help bring the design to life. The entire roof is precast cement and the pieces were assembled on site. Apart from steel & tendon that holds the pre-cast concrete together; epoxy resin has also been used in the roof structure. Highly advanced methods were used to support these elements and they were joined by the post-tensioning methods to complete all the shells - they were put together very much in the manner that Lego building blocks are.

Melbourne Cricket Ground 

This structure is known for its lack of roof. Known as the MCG, the Melbourne Crick Ground currently does not have a roof, and many design and architecture companies proposed a possible retractable roof. However, discussions were halted as there were concerns raised over the possible weight on the entire stadium’s structure. The MCG hosts both international and national cricket matches and is also home to Australia's National Sports Museum.

The Shine Dome (formerly the Becker House) 

The construction of the reinforced concrete dome was a significant technical achievement of its time (the late 1950's). In diameter, the dome was large by world standards and larger than any dome previously built in Australia. Upon completion, the Shine Dome became a symbol of modern Canberra. Since then it has developed into an important landmark and tourist destination in the city.

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is of considerable historical, social, technological and cultural significance. The Bowl was the first major purpose-built outdoor venue to be constructed in Melbourne and was designed to accommodate a completely new scale of live outdoor performance events.

At the time of its construction, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl was one of a small number of structures in Australia to combine a tensile structural system with a free-form roof, and was by far the most important in terms of its scale, sophistication and boldness of structural expression. The project represented an enormous achievement for its architects and structural engineers and involved input from a number of technical and scientific consultants, including members of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories and CSIRO Forest Products Division.

While maybe not as extravagant as some of the roofs featured in this post, at Roo Roofing, we can help you with any roof projects including roof restoration and roof replacement.