Maragheh · 2025
An observatory, restored to the sky
Bringing a hilltop observatory back into use: stabilized walls, a new instrument hall and a roof that opens again.
The challenge
Centuries of weather had left the drum walls cracked and the meridian line lost under later floors. The building had to work as an observatory again, not only as a ruin to visit.
Our approach
- Surveyed every course of the drum walls and stabilized them with lime, not cement, so they can still move with the seasons.
- Lifted the later floors to find the original meridian line, then set a new brass line beside it rather than over it.
- Designed a light steel roof that slides on rails, so the hall closes against weather and opens for the night.
The outcome
The hall hosts teaching nights again, and the walls are monitored by sensors set into the mortar joints.