An opportunity arose to work on an observatory structure to permanently house a telescope and office space for an astronomy enthusiast in East Cornwall. The outbuilding was completed under permitted development in 2019.
A permanent enclosure for the telescope was required due to the client previously having to set up, move and take down the instruments every time there was a clear sky. Subsequently, our design enabled them to securely house the telescope in one location, with the tripod fixed to three concrete pads. The building is lightweight, low cost and durable, sitting in place of a dilapidated open garage structure.
It joins onto the solid granite walls of the existing coach house, and is formed of a timber frame combined with blockwork build up, and finished with timber cladding. The building is separated into two sections, the telescope segment and a small warm office space. Moreover, part of the client's requirements was that the roof would have to be fully openable. Therefore, two lightweight steel sections of roof were suggested, with one section able to be pulled across the other on tracks to enable clear access to the sky.