turning a shed into an observatory!

[jake_wright]

Hello

It looks like I've been given permission by dad to build an observatory in the garden, I would rather use something which is prefabricated which I can modify to work. My garden isn't big, it's 100ft by 10 foot so the ideal size would be a 6ftx4ft shed.

I was wandering what is the best type shed to use, by this I mean wooden, plastic or metal? I'm going to modify the roof so it can be slid to one side to leave the whole sky available for observing. There is also a post at the bottom of the garden which I can cut to size to be used as a pier, it's already burried into the garden so that side of it is ready. 

For now this is just me collecting ideas before I commit myself into buying something. 

[mister_wavey]

there are plenty of examples of just that in this forum - go have a good read

[r3i]

There's a fundamental problem with converting a garden shed that you'll need to address.  The rigidity of a garden shed depends on the walls being attached to the roof.  You will of course lose this as the roof needs to be detached so that you can roll it out of the way.  The walls of most garden sheds are quite thin and won't be robust enough on their own.

So you'll need to factor in some method of reinforcing the shed walls with a framework that will give the building the required rigidity.  This has certainly been done many times.  You may however want to consider that it might be just as easy to start from scratch, it all depends on how much you like to do DIY.

There's loads of build threads on this and other sites so there's plenty of material to get you thinking.

Good luck with whatever design you choose and it would be great to see how you get on.

[Fish]

I used a ketter plastic shed and if you look around the forum you will find a few.

Take a look here http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/218933-plastic-pig-obsy/

Good luck with your search.

[toxic]

here is an example of a 6x4 shed for and observatory.

then it changed to this by changing the long side and making a new roof 

not the best way to do it but it gives you some ideas 

sorry have no plans as i built it of the top of my head so to speak lol but it works.

[laser_jock99]

6'x4' isn't that big. I'd allow a min of 3' around the scope in all directions- especially if planning to use a long refractor.

[peroni]

A second vote for the Keter plastic shed. I went down that route as well. Thread here for info. The whole shed and extras (reinforcing straps, bolts, handles, heater) came to about £500.

6' x 4' is definitely on the small side. If you are considering sitting in the shed while you view it may be too small. Another option if space is really tight is to build a shed on rollers that you roll out the way, an example was posted here a few days ago.

[Gina]

Having a roll off shed saves all the problems of reinforcing the walls to provide a roll off roof with a fixed shed.  Plus, of course, you can get away with a much smaller shed.  The downside is no shelter if you're observing.