Overseas Passenger Terminal

Overseas Passenger Terminal
Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal in April 2015
Alternative names	OPT Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal
General information
Status	Complete
Architectural style	Post-War International
Location	Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia
Coordinates	33°51′29″S 151°12′36″E / 33.8580°S 151.2101°E / -33.8580; 151.2101Coordinates: 33°51′29″S 151°12′36″E / 33.8580°S 151.2101°E / -33.8580; 151.2101
Groundbreaking	1956
Construction started	1958
Completed	1960
Opened	20 December 1960
Technical details
Structural system	Black Steel Portal Frame Truss
Floor count	2
Design and construction
Architect	1988 Lawrence Nield 1988 Peter Tonkin 1997 Bligh Voller Nield (BVN)
Other designers	2001 NSW Architect's Office 2012 Architectus 2012 Arup Group
Awards and prizes	1988 & 1997 RAIA Merit Award, Category: Civic Design 1998 & 1997 RAIA Lloyd Rees Urban Design Award

1988 & 1997 RAIA Merit Award, Category: Civic Design

The Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT), known officially as the Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal, is a public cruise ship and ocean liner transport infrastructure building located in Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia. Whilst commercial shipping operations on and around the site date from 1792, the current primary structure and waterfront promenade date from 1958, with subsequent on-going alterations and land reclamation throughout the latter part of the 20th century. The current design retains the black steel portal frame trusses of the original 1958 structure, with major additions completed in 1988 in the Post-War International Style through the collaboration of Sydney architects Lawrence Nield and Peter Tonkin.

The building's main structure, the two remaining uniquely designed extendable gangways and an interior mural known as Foundations of European Settlement by Australian artist Arthur Murch are all listed as individual items of significance within the State Heritage Inventory by the New South Wales Heritage Office. Since 2006, the building and its surroundings have also been listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site buffer zone for the Sydney Opera House.

Today, the OPT maintains a significant public role as the only major passenger terminal east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. As such, it has been host to many major international cruise liners which are unable to clear the underside of the bridge, including the largest liner to dock at the OPT to date, the Queen Mary II. The OPT promenade and viewing platforms are open to the public when ships are not docked in the terminal and a series of dining and entertainment venues within the building serve as part of the OPT's secondary function.

The Overseas Passenger Terminal is located along the western edge of waterfront which frames Sydney Cove, also known as Circular Quay West and forms part of the promenade between Circular Quay station and First Fleet Park to the South and Campbell's Cove to the north. Its geographical location along the water's edge provides the structure with a clear, unobstructed view of two of Sydney's most recognisable icons, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Its location also borders along the eastern edge of one of Sydney's earliest colonial settlement areas, known as The Rocks and today is on the border of a heritage conservation area which protects this historically significant zone.