About Outsideology
Our story began back in 2010, when Neil, our designer, was first asked to help find a suitable observatory for a friend in Edinburgh, Scotland. There were many observatory products on the market at the time, but none provided the security, longevity or quality that he required. And so Neil, with the help of master joiners Joe and Ryzsard, set about creating what would become the finest observatory made commercially in the UK. Though it was our very first, it had several very important qualities: it was damp-free, fully secure and built to a quality that meant it was destined for a lifetime’s observing. Since then, we have continued to design and build observatories of all shapes and sizes. In 2015, we formed Outsideology as a full-time business to deliver our renowned observatories throughout the UK.
Since then, we’ve not only designed and built over 60 more observatories, we’ve designed, manufactured and installed a wide range of other specialist buildings, including a number of bespoke garden rooms, an ultra-low-energy bungalow and even a satellite ground station.
Most recently, we have formed a new partnership with ScopeDome, a manufacturer of exceptional quality observatory domes based in Poland. We’re delighted to offer these to our customers with our full installation service – whereby we provide exactly the same level of design, manufacture and installation service as we always have for roll-off roof observatories.
Our People
Neil is an experienced astronomer and holds a masters degree in Physics with Space Science. Responsible for the design of each of our observatories, Neil is passionate about all aspects of these technical buildings, bringing his scientific, astronomical and engineering expertise to bear in ensuring each one meets and exceeds the expectations of its owner. He’s also a fully qualified electrician, and in 2025 was elected to membership of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. When not designing and building our observatories, Neil frequently speaks on astronomy, teaches astro-photography and in his rare ‘down-time’ enjoys outdoor walks and dining out.
Vanessa, Neil’s wife, is company director along with Neil himself. Keeping a watchful eye over the business, she provides all kinds of expertise in business administration and management. She holds degrees in biochemistry and dietetics, is an enthusiastic baker and loves reading.
On the manufacture and installation side, we’re lucky to have two brilliant teams of skilled carpenters. Based in the South West, Aaron, Dan and Cam are responsible for the majority of our UK-based observatory builds, and Jeremy and Jimmy cover the South East in particular. Both teams have installed a number of observatories each and are proud to maintain the high standards of work set by Neil, Joe and Ryzsard from the beginning. We’re grateful to be supported by a constellation of brilliant tradespeople like Liam, our plasterer, Graham and Dathan our plumbers, Andy our structural engineer and many more who help us to realise our projects with great skill and attention to detail.
