Jodrell Bank Observatory: Electrical Workshop (Former Main Office)

Office and teaching building using a standard construction system,1949.

MATERIALS: pre-cast concrete frame, concrete block walls, metal windows, felt roof.

PLAN: single-storey, rectangular building with the front facing west.

EXTERIOR: standing on the east side of the part of the site known as ‘The Green’ and now connected by the Cryogenics Workshop (to its east) to the Mechanical Workshop standing to its north (neither building included).

The windows are all metal-framed, multi-paned casements with concrete surrounds. The walls are of large block-work, now painted. The front (west) wall has a central doorway with a part-glazed timber door, with seven windows to each side of this. At the left there is a short length of wall between the end window and the angle, and the third window to the right of the door is half-width, but otherwise the appearance is symmetrical. A grey plastic gutter runs the length of the eaves, with down-pipes at either end and to the right of the door.

The north wall returning at the left has a window either side of the central door, which is part-glazed and timber. The roof falls very slightly to either side of a central ridge. The east wall returning at the left is obscured at its north end by the attached Cryogenics Workshop (not included). Otherwise this wall has a similar but more varied dispersal of windows and the same rainwater arrangement* as the front wall. Returning at the left, the south wall is blind.

INTERIOR: the concrete frame is visible, comprising posts with projecting heads that support the roof beams. Between these the block-work is visible with no lining finish, although it is now painted. The ceilings are of fibreboard panels fitted into a metal grid. A small lobby at the north entrance is original but has an inserted eastern access up a step to the Cryogenics Workshop. The floor is of herringbone parquet, with linear edgings indicating the original location of partitions. There are some inserted brick and stud partitions. Some floors have been overlain with vinyl and one room has quarry tiles, together with blackout fittings to the door. Modern electrical and heating services have been fitted throughout* but the building retains historic features including window blinds, light fittings, doors, and cloakroom fittings. The former lecture room at the south end retains its low dais, and (Sir) Bernard Lovell’s office remains as a discrete space.

*EXCLUSIONS: pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the aforementioned items are not of special architectural or historic interest.