Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

PT Projects were appointed as Exhibition Quantity Surveyors on the Jodrell Bank visitor centre. The exhibition was developed closely with the team of scientists and staff at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, home of the Lovell Telescope to re-develop their visitor centre.

The exhibition featured numerous exhibits which include a 40m long ‘look-back’ timeline documenting everything from the Big Bang to distant galaxies and the first landing on the Moon and an enormous cone in which visitors can stand and hear an interpretive sound of the Big Bang, infra-red and black hole interactives and a live data stream from the telescope itself which can be printed.

In addition to this there is also a five metres diameter orrery – a moving, model of the Solar System – it is believed to be the largest of its kind in the world and includes a complex system of 52 brass gears that ensure that the planets orbit around the Sun at exactly the right rate in relation to each other. Installed in the gallery space of the Discovery Centre’s Planet Pavilion, it can be driven by a large winding handle, allowing visitors to orchestrate the motion of the planets themselves.