THE PROJECT —

The Commonwealth Solar Observatory at Mt Stromlo has been a familiar landmark in Canberra since before the First World War, with the oldest structures dating back to 1911. For many decades it was Australia’s premier optical observatory, a fact recognised by the listing of the entire precinct on the Register of the National Estate in 1987, and it’s placement on the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004.   In its heyday, before the encroaching lights of Canberra’s urban sprawl degraded the Observatory’s performance, it hosted a large number of telescopes and related measuring instruments, and was a world-famous Centre of Excellence in astronomical research. The Observatory was severely affected by the 2003 bush fires, which destroyed many of the buildings on the Site, including most of the main administration building, and all of the operating telescopes.