Competition time

Peter Sharpe had a vision and concept for the the project: to launch a competition amongst architects to design an observatory that would compliment the Kielder land and sky scape. Over 230 entries were received from every corner of the planet, some were incredible, others not so, but six entries were finally shortlisted. The winner was Charles Barclay architects from London. Charles and his team designed something quite spectacular, and as you can see the rest is history. 

The construction of the Observatory was funded by One North East via Northumberland Strategic Partnership, European Regional Development Fund, Northern Rock Foundation, Forestry Commission, Tynedale Council, and Kielder Partnership. All the timber came from sustainably managed forests, independently certified as well-managed by the Forest Stewardship Council.