After searching for hours through the Lego website I decided I wanted to buy a new set to have fun with after a few years away from Lego... Seeing I visited Sydney a couple of years ago I felt as though I had to build this set seeing the Opera House in one of my favourite buildings in the world.

Pros

• Pro 1: Nice and small building... Perfect as display on a desk etc...
• Pro 2: Easy instructions to follow and doesnt take long to build (no more than an hour)

Cons

• Con 1: Some bits can be slightly awkward to put together especially the roofing.

All in all was a great set to build and will definitely be buying more sets from the Architecture range... Great addition from Lego

A little background, I've been collecting all the architecture sets, and overall I'm a huge fan of the sets.

Box/Instructions

Like all the other architecture sets, it has a really nicely bound, extra big instructions book. It's a total of 83 pages with plenty of extras related to the opera house in general.

The build

The architecture series is not like all the other sets out there. It is more about the look of the final build than interesting builds. While not exciting, I do like the way it handles the diagonal parts of the model.

Final Model

The final model only looks so-so, and is also quite flimsy. I've had to re-attach the arches a number of times.

Summary

While it was a super-difficult subject to re-create, it does not pull it off very well. I think the scale is just too small to pull it over very well. Probably my least favorite of the series so far.

About me: I am an AFOL who has been building at least 1 set each year for my whole life. I try to build most sets under 500 pieces as a "puzzle build", without using the instructions. That said, this model didn't make sense to build in this way since it is immediately clear that many of the mechanical details are not visible in the picture on the box.

Initial impressions: Between the rather rough appearance of the photos I saw of this model, and the lackluster comments from a friend of mine who built it, this model wasn't one that I was especially excited to build. It looks like a "rough sketch" of the famous opera house; the real building is so smooth and sculptural, but the sail-like features of this model look crude and blocky.

Building experience: Sometimes it is a blessing to have low expectations. While hardly a difficult or time consuming build, I was pleased with the designer's creative approach to recreating a building which is so un-square using the limited array of existing Lego brick shapes.

Finished Model: While a little rough, it is an immediately recognizable recreation of a classic modern design. I prefer the appearance of the much bigger 2013 "advanced model" Sydney Opera House, but it is hardly a fair comparison when that set has more than *10 times* as many pieces as this set.

Part Selection / Value: This set is way overpriced at 39$ for 270 pieces, although the set does include larger parts than most Architecture sets. (Big Ben is a better model and costs 10$ less. Likewise, The White House is the best set in the series and only 10$ more, and the UN Headquarter is also very good.) Aside from the cost, the part selection is pretty good, including a lot of tan parts, so it may have some appeal for some buyers.

Conclusion: 5/10 on a 10-point scale. While this is the second-worst set in the Architecture series, I still enjoyed building it.

As a puzzle build, this model took around 4 hours to complete. (I did a little at a time over many days.)