Sat at the heart of a Unesco World Heritage Site, Cheshire's Jodrell Bank in England, the First Light Pavilion is quietly nestled in the green landscape's rolling hills. The site, by the small town of Macclesfield, is home to an observatory first established in 1945 by radio astronomer Bernard Lovell, and it includes the impressive Lovell Telescope. Now, this new piece of pavilion architecture, designed by Hassell, has been added to the popular tourist destination, as a centre that welcomes visitors who want to find out more about astronomy, science and technology at Jodrell Bank and beyond.
The pavilion ‘aims to open up the inspirational history of Jodrell Bank by engaging visitors with the fantastic stories of its pioneering scientists and their groundbreaking feats of science and engineering', offers a Jodrell Bank statement. At the same time, its architecture, defined by gentle concrete curves, was conceived to be subtle and respond to its leafy context and the nearby, familiar forms of the Lovell Telescope and astronomy equipment in general.
The First Light Pavilion's 76m-diameter dome is topped by grass, ensuring it commands a clear, yet discreet presence in the Jodrell Bank campus. Inside, exhibition designer Casson Mann composed a display that tells the story of the site and the science ‘of the exploration of the universe using radio waves instead of visible light'. Within the exhibits, interactive projected animations by digital media studio Squint/Opera, in partnership with exhibition builder Realm and software developer ISO, promise an informative and engaging visit for guests.
‘That transformational development in this quiet corner of Cheshire completely opened up humanity's understanding of the universe and allowed us to discover previously undreamt of things such as pulsars, quasars, and even the fading glow of the Big Bang,' says professor Tim O'Brien, associate director at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. Jodrell Bank is host to the world’s oldest existing radio astronomy observatory, and the First Light Pavilion visitor centre celebrates this through its gentle presence and contextual nature.
INFORMATION
-
Discothèque perfumes evoke the scent of Tokyo in the year 2000As Discothèque gets ready to launch its first perfume collection, Mary Cleary catches up with the brand’s founders
-
This unassuming London house is a radical rethinking of the suburban homeStation Lodge by architect Andrei Saltykov in South West London offers a radical subversion to regional residential architecture
-
Explore 100 years of Svenskt Tenn and the interiors Estrid Ericson has crafted‘A Philosophy of Home’ explores 100 years of Svenskt Tenn and the daring vision for interiors its founder Estrid Ericson developed
-
This unassuming London house is a radical rethinking of the suburban home
Station Lodge by architect Andrei Saltykov in South West London offers a radical subversion to regional residential architecture
-
Join our tour of London Zoo, its modernist architecture and moreLondon Zoo is a well-established magnet for younger visitors, but there's plenty for the architecture enthusiast to admire too; our tour explores its modernist treasures for guests of all ages
-
Elemental House adds a Danish twist to a 1970s London houseArchmongers' Elemental House transforms a 1970s terraced house in London's Hackney into a functional, light-filled, Scandinavian-inspired family home
-
East London's disused gasholders are being reinventedRegent's View by RSHP reinvents a pair of disused gasholders in east London as contemporary residential space and a publically accessible park
-
The 2024 RIBA Reinvention Award, Muyiwa Oki, and making reuse ‘more special than ever’The shortlist for the 2024 RIBA Reinvention Award has been announced today; we caught up with the institute’s president Muyiwa Oki to discuss the honour
-
Meticulously detailed London mews house unveiled by Ampuero YutronicMarket Mews, a London mews house, is a hymn to modern minimalism, executed with precision and skill to make the most of a tight site in the heart of the capital
-
What to visit during London Open House 2024? We asked the expertsLost in choice? London Open House 2024 is as exciting as it is expansive. We asked some of our friends, all experts in their architectural field, for their tips on what to visit at this year's event
-
Thames Distillers raises our spirits with its new home and bar in LondonFords bar at Thames Distillers' new home is a future London classic, designed by Transit Studio; we raise a toast to the gin maker
