Near completion June 2018
Once again one of our projects is in the news. We’re very proud to have been working for Royal Museums Greenwich at The Royal Observatory Greenwich. We’ve been surveying, specifying and overseeing conservation work to the Altazimuth Pavilion and the work is now completed.
November 2017
The beautiful and unique ‘Altaz’ is listed Grade II, and sits among other listed buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments that make up The Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Observatory itself is part of the wider National Maritime Museum within a UNESCO World Heritage Site that extends from the Greenwich Royal Park to the Wren buildings of the Old Royal Naval College and the Cutty Sark on the banks of the River Thames.
The repairs to the building have created an opportunity for the Observatory to install new telescope equipment within the dome. This new telescope array brings Greenwich back to the cutting edge of astronomy and means it is a base of scientific research for the first time in 60 years. This is the story that has hit the mainstream and scientific press with articles in The Telegraph, The Guardian, and television coverage on both BBC and ITV local news and BBC Newsnight, with more to come.
A lot of work, and late nights, have gone into installing and calibrating our new #AMATelescope in the Altazimuth Pavilion at the Royal Observatory. As seen in this timelapse footage taken by @tomkerss! https://t.co/Yf3ZZ7J8Uk pic.twitter.com/5r6ic8cNvp
— Royal Observatory (@ROGAstronomers) June 25, 2018
The telescope itself has been named after Annie Maunder, a 19th century astronomer who was a major contributor to the development of astronomy photography despite the prejudices of the time against women. You can read more about her here.
The building conservation aspect has entailed a lot of detailed work for brick cleaning, repair and repointing, leadwork renewals, roofing, ironwork, and gilding. We’ll be writing a detailed post here soon on all the work.
The newly gilded Halley’s Comet weathervane