Outside, the Opera house is open to the sky and not blocked by buildings so very bright. However, there is a covered walkway semi-underground via escalator at the end of the east circular quay buildings, which is darker though has advertising screens (moderate brightness).
In the foyers and box office, lighting is mostly soft warm LED & tungsten and flicker-free, with occasional fluorescents in handrails.
The northern foyers face the harbour so are open to daylight and very bright in summer.
The venues are moderately bright when tours come through, but lit steadily & evenly. There are ad screens in some foyer areas. In the main box office near the lift there is a bright LED video wall playing a video near couches, but there are places to sit that face away from it, and it’s all the way at one end.
In shows and concerts, there’s often bright and flashing lights and theatrical haze. The staff can help, and there’s an accessibility contact email too.
It’s very busy whenever shows are on in the Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre — but tours run all the time.
Summer is the busiest time for tours as well with big groups, and outdoor concerts on the forecourt.
The big venue foyers are large enough and have lots of corners where it’s possible to avoid being jostled.
There’s a lot of crowd noise in different areas. In foyers it can get echoey loud.
Most tours are quiet as they use wireless headphones, but Asian language tours use loudspeakers instead which is louder.
Shows in theatres are often loud if amplified, but there’s also classical music concerts which are quieter.
The northern foyers are very carpeted and have dark quiet areas at the bottom of the stairs.
There’s often theatrical smoke, but not in classical music concerts.
Cooking smells are very limited to close proximity to the restaurants & bars, and there’s open air so they don’t stay.
The air is sea-salty from the harbour.
There’s a car park adjacent, accessed by driving down Macquarie st. It’s deep underground but has lift access to lower concourse up a slope.
The entrance to the foyers and venues is through the covered concourse, underneath the steps (not outside).
There’s a security scan & bag check point there. Escalators down go to the lower concourse where the tours run from.
There are tours, mostly sold online, but also a counter on the lower concourse (down escalator outside).
Tickets to shows are also available online and at the box office, which is up stairs/lift in the box office foyer.
There’s an accessibility contact who can further assist with specific needs or inquiries.
There are public toilets available at every level, both multi stall gendered and accessible all-gender bathrooms.
Changing places are also available in the box office foyer on level 1.
