Royal Observatory Greenwich: Details of £35m upgrade project submitted
Plans are in showing how newly landscaped areas of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich will appear if approved as a major £35 million project moves ahead.
Funding for the Observatory has been given by the National Lottery with an additional £1.25m grant award this past February from the Wolfson Foundation.
The entire project comprises a new entrance pavilion, garden walkway, stairs to the Great Equatorial Building, café kiosk and a science engagement area connecting the South Building and Planetarium.
Archaeological finds
A report within the newly submitted application to Greenwich Council notes that work to demolish the existing ticket office and construct a replacement offers the potential to find “the foundations of Flamsteed’s Observatory (Quadrant House and Sextant House) from 1676 which the existing Ticket Office is built over.
“A boundary wall enclosing a smaller garden at the back of the original Meridian Building, as shown on the 1788 plan.
“This also shows a flight of steps up into a ‘telescope room’ extending off the current building at the west end of the garden, and also a series of steps down from the smaller garden into a second enclosure immediately south.”
The Observatory celebrates its 350th anniversary this year.
Start date
Costing £35 million in all, work is expected to begin in 2026 with a 2028 completion target.
Conservation work will clover windows, roofs along with building façades. Step-free access will be added with lifts constructed.
Details covering bird and bat boxes, invertebrate houses, an arboricultural method statement, tree protection plan plus soft landscaping and tree planting details can be viewed here on the Greenwich Council website.
