Jodrell Bank Observatory: Park Royal Building

Single-storey hut used as a control room, built in 1949 (with small extension built in 1963-64), to house scientific apparatus, laboratories and research offices.

MATERIALS: pre-cast concrete system with concrete portal frames and walls of large, concrete blocks, very shallow-pitched and flat membrane roofs, re-roofed using modern materials in 2016.

PLAN: single-storey, rectangular building sub-divided into a number of rooms with a slightly lower, single-storey, single room extension on the south-east side.

EXTERIOR: the walls are constructed of large, concrete blocks, which also course through to the small extension, now painted with textured paint. The doors and vertical, rectangular windows have pre-cast concrete frames and the majority of windows are multi-paned with galvanised metal frames incorporating side-hung and top-hung opening lights. The north-west long elevation has a wide doorway left of centre with timber double doors with glazed upper lights. To the left is a narrow window, two former doorways, now converted to windows with multi-light timber frames, and a wider window at the left-hand corner. To the right are five windows of varying widths. The south-west end elevation has a doorway with a timber door and four-light upper panel, flanked by two windows to the left separated by a concrete mullion and a single window to the right. The south-east long elevation has a row of seven windows of varying widths, the fifth window now blocked. At the right-hand end is the small, projecting extension. The extension has a large, multi-pane window which wraps round the south, left-hand corner with a chamfered, single-pane with a square corner to the wall beneath. The outer, south-east elevation also has a narrower window to the right. The north-east end elevation has a single window in the return of the extension and a row of three windows in the main building.

INTERIOR: the building has herringbone parquet flooring throughout. The painted, concrete portal frames are visible, dividing the ceilings into bays. The building has a number of rooms opening off an L-shaped corridor. The rooms have flush-faced timber doors with simple, moulded architraves.