Author: Ben Trendall

The Slate Observatory is our first observatory to have…. you guessed it!….. a slate roof.  Or rather a synthetic slate roof!  Or rather, an electrically operated, hipped, synthetic slate roof!  Phew!

A whimsical observatory in the trees, our treehouse observatory rises from a rhododendron patch to give wonderful, elevated views of the stars.

For the Larch Observatory, we adopted a reductionist approach to design at the request of the owner: simplicity would be key, with minimal external features, clean lines, perfect symmetry and even the roofline to be simplified with a level, square frame disguising the required slope.

Displayed at the International Astronomy Show in 2016, and later installed in the North of England, the Pennine Observatory features a unique roof design that rolls away to the rear, rather than over the warm room.

Our Hide Observatory was commissioned for couple who were both keen astronomers and bird watchers. Our brief was to build an observatory that would make the most of the low Southern horizon but contain a full-height, well-insulated warm room that would double as a bird watching hide.

For the Palantir Observatory we received a challenging brief from our client – a full-height warm room that would accommodate a man of 6’2″, placed to the side of an observatory that would give good views to to the South and East, with relatively low horizons. The challenge comes from placing the warm room to the side, rather than under the main roof: you need additional height to ensure that the interface between the two roofs is sufficiently water-tight – whilst the height needed to stay within 2.5m to keep the visual impact to a minimum.

This elegant but compact 11×7′ observatory was built for a customer on the Welsh coast, and features a small but perfectly formed 3′ warm room as well as a 7′ square observatory.

This unique observatory features an incredible specification for a truly one-off observing experience. Built inside and out in beautiful knotty Western Red Cedar, the Birds Nest observatory features a raised observing area allowing its owner to view the entire night sky whilst seated comfortably in a yacht-style horseshoe seat finished in fine grain leather.

We were commissioned to design the “Hutch” for a local astronomer couple with a wide range of equipment and requirements. Situated in the customers’ back garden, it benefits from excellent open views of the sky, marred only by the location of a single poorly-sited streetlight.

Our client requested a 10’x8′ observatory to occupy a position in the garden that benefited from very low easterly horizons. With very little artificial light in the area, the only light would have come from the direction of the house (and more specifically the neighbours). In this photo, we can see the view in the East direction, behind the observatory.