The Sydney Opera House has been brought to life through touch, with a tactile scale model of the architectural masterpiece unveiled.

Staff from our Accessible Information Services team—which helps people and organisations that need to access printed materials in their choice of alternative format—formed part of a group that helped advise on the model from an accessibility perspective. The group also included representatives from Guide Dogs and Vision Australia, in addition to a model maker, a designer and Sydney Opera House staff, providing a range of perspectives.

NextSense Publications Officer Tristan, who is blind, was asked to review a draft replica model for accessibility, which informed the final design. She provided feedback on the textures used, and how successful it was in conveying the overall shape of the Opera House. Maria, also from our Accessible Information Services team works as a sighted braille transcriber and provided her perspective.

Tristan says that tactile models are important because often people who are blind or have low vision do not get a real sense of what a building looks like.

She says that a highlight was getting to touch the model and feel the unique shape of the Opera House. “I’ve heard that it has a distinctive design, but words did not prepare me for what it actually felt like”, she says.

The model will be used for upcoming audio described performances and tours, including a live visual description of the images projected onto the iconic sails for Vivid LIVE 2024.

Created by experienced artisans and clad in bronze, it was gifted by design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services firm Arup in recognition of the Sydney Opera House’s 50^th anniversary.

Images credit: Cassandra Hannagan