Here, in the darkest part of England, where the air is still unpolluted, the Kielder Partnership – an alliance of public and private bodies – held a competition to build an observatory. A temporary structure was designed to accommodate two telescopes and the relevant working spaces. The elongated, rectilinear volume stands on the ground at one end and is raised on columns above the slope at the other end. Set on top of the building at different heights are two rotating turrets that house the telescopes and afford an unimpeded view of the southern sky even at a minimal inclination of 5°. The telescope in the central turret can be operated by computer from the adjoining space.