The Project
In June 1675, King Charles II issued a Royal Warrant authorising the construction of the Royal Observatory: “in order to the finding out of the longitude of places for perfecting navigation and astronomy, we have resolved to build a small Observatory within our Park at Greenwich upon the highest ground”. Since then, across the centuries, new buildings have been added to accommodate the ever-developing technologies of astronomy.
Now, 350 years later, having been appointed architect for the Royal Observatory Greenwich through a public competition in 2022, Jamie Fobert Architects has been tasked with considering how best to add to the site to better welcome visitors, give clarity to the visitor journey and to create galleries where the full story of time and space can be revealed.
We have been working in collaboration with Heritage Consultants, Purcell, engineers, Price & Myers and Max Fordham, and Landscape Designers, FFLO.
The Royal Observatory is a unique site with an incredible history—a place where science and culture and landscape come together. Since it first began with Sir Christopher Wren’s octagonal Flamsteed House, the site has grown into ‘constellation’ of buildings, each designed to house the most outstanding astronomical instruments of their time, and it is now a Scheduled Monument within the Grade I-listed Greenwich Park and Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taking a sustainable and creative approach to dealing with the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s unique and important historic fabric, the new project will add a beautiful entry pavilion and garden walk, new accessible routes to the Great Equatorial Telescope and Planetarium, refreshed galleries and new event, retail and café spaces. Much of the project is about creating joyful and comfortable access for all, with Jamie Fobert Architects’ architectural interventions and new landscape by FFLO working together in harmony.
Fascinated by the sextants, telescopes and other objects in the Collection and how their eighteenth- and nineteenth-century makers blended functionality with aesthetics, we have conceived of the new building elements as ‘instruments of navigation’ that guide the visitor around the site. Unique to the Royal Observatory Greenwich, we are creating a memorable set of pavilions and stairs in bronze, which test the boundaries of what an astronomical language of architecture can be.
Much of the project is about creating joyful and comfortable access for all. A new access stair and lift for the historic Great Equatorial Telescope building means that now all visitors will be able to access the upper floors, to enter inside the 'onion dome' and see one of the largest refracting telescopes in the world.
The form and materiality of the entrance pavilion is informed by historic instruments of navigation.
The Astronomers' Court is a generous new multi-functional space for exhibitions and ‘science busking’.
Sustainability
Sustainability is central to the project's vision, with a focus on decarbonisation and longevity. Improving the site's existing building fabric and prioritising high quality detailing means we can hope for our architectural interventions to last more than a hundred years.
Max Fordham, leaders in the field of sustainability, are overseeing the decarbonisation of services, with the removal of gas boilers and installation of efficient air-source heat pumps. With operational energy consumption and wellbeing further in mind, our proposals maximise natural light wherever possible.
Our proposals minimise embodied carbon not just through material choices but also through form. Structural engineers, Price & Myers, have been carrying out embodied carbon studies to inform all our decisions since the very earliest design stages. We are exploring the use of calcined clay in our concrete mixes, a newer material with 30-40% less embodied carbon than traditional concrete mixes. We are also using structural geometry to drive efficiency: by using double-vaulted roof arches, we have minimised the quantity of material necessary to form the generous public space of the new Astronomers' Court.