January 8 2016

Graham Construction has been appointed to deliver the £12m Higgs Centre for Innovation at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre’s Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.

Delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh the facility will marry education and research in the fields of space and big data and takes the form of a standalone pavilion within the existing observatory grounds.

Defined by a sweeping north façade the building will host laboratory space, meeting rooms and office suites as well as an upper level glass walled circular café designed to staff members and other users to mingle by serving up expansive views.

A cylindrical accommodation stair has also been included as a contemporary nod to the observatory dome.

In their design statement Jacobs noted: “The cellular nature of the first floor accommodation dictates a sequence of regular window opening. These opening have been ordered into a simple grid pattern along with windows into the lab and meeting spaces on ground floor. These openings are set within articulated stone walls.

“To offset this solidity and draw attention to entrances, key views and smooth the transmissions from adjacent buildings a more transparent and glazed treatment is given to the corners.”

The design supercedes an earlier plan by Austin Smith Lord.

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