Value: National Space Centre Launch Pad

Constructing Excellence

The National Space Centre, home to the UK’s largest planetarium and iconic 42m high Rocket Tower and attracts approx. 300,000 visitors per year. The iconic Rocket Tower comprises an inner and outer layer of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) which brought its own set of challenges.

The project was to deliver a cost-effective 190m2 new build extension integrated with the existing rocket tower to create an out of this world visitor experience. It provides a new reception and ticketing hall known as “The Launch Pad” it complements the existing design of the Rocket Tower and opened in time for summer 2018 holidays.

The project pushed the boundaries of considerate construction scoring 48/50 which benchmarked added value against 9,000 other sites placing it within the top 1% in the UK.

The project was procured through the Scape Venture Framework which is a managed framework designed to maximise positive impact by bringing together the best of public and private sector expertise.

Value was built into every step from procurement, delivery to end use to enable the National Space Centre to maintain is status as the UK’s largest visitor attraction and research facility dedicated to space whilst boosting the Cities tourism economy.