The National Space Centre in Leicester was designed by Nicholas Grimshaw, who won a competition in September 1996 against four other architects. Arup was structural and services engineer, and Sir Robert McAlpine the contractor. A registered charity run with the University of Leicester operates it. Construction began in March 1999, and it opened on June 30, 2001. The Millennium Commission paid half of the £52 million cost. The article names no style.
The rocket tower is 138 feet (42 m) tall and clad in ETFE pillows, the material used on the Eden Project domes. The main building has a perforated metal skin over steel cladding, on a steel grid frame. Its roof is gravel in three colors forming a Crab Nebula design. A former storm water tank forms the foundations.
Inside are six galleries and a 192-seat planetarium. A Thor Able and a Blue Streak rocket stand in the tower.
Comments