£20m Jodrell Bank heritage centre secures green light

Proposals to create a £20.5m heritage exhibition and visitor centre in a unique new earth dome-shaped building at Jodrell Bank, which will tell the story of how a rural site in Cheshire became the home of radio astronomy, have secured the green light.Cheshire East Council’s strategic planning board has approved a full planning application by the University of Manchester to build the new visitor attraction on the Granada Arboretum at Jodrell Bank, which is part of the university.The proposal relates to the First Light Project, an architecture-led scheme that features a new earth dome-shaped building providing more exhibition space, an auditorium, an outdoor café area, an office, education space and toilets. This building, which will be 79 metres wide at the base and eight metres high, will incorporate paths on the roof so that visitors can walk to the top where they will find a sundial on a flat platform. It is intended to complement Jodrell Bank’s existing visitor facilities, which already attract approximately 150,000 visitors per year.An accompanying design and access statement by international architectural practice HASSELL said that the scheme aims to address the fact that “much of the current exhibition and interpretation material throughout the site is focused on radio astronomy and the science around it, with little emphasis on the inspiring story of how a rural site south of Manchester became known as its home”.The project has received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund of approximately £12m while a further £4m was committed in the 2017 Autumn Budget.Cheshire East Council’s strategic planning board has also waved through a separate full planning application by the university to boost the parking provision and upgrade visitor facilities at Jodrell Bank.It is proposed to increase parking capacity from 174 permanent spaces to 275 permanent spaces plus 50 temporary spaces, largely through the reconfiguration of the existing car park into a more formal arrangement. There would also be a new ticket booth/entry portal building next to the existing Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.