Ocean Court Reopens at the National Maritime Museum

19 August 2025

Last month, Ocean Court reopened following a refurbishment of the glazed atrium roof which spans the historic courtyard at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.

Eckersley O’Callaghan was part of main contractor, Willmott Dixon’s, design team, tasked with improving the performance of the glazed roof. Sitting in the centre of the museum and containing some of the museum’s largest and most important objects, the solar performance of the existing glazed roof light was upgraded to reduce overheating in the space below and improve visitor experience. The roof system was also enhanced by improving acoustics through the addition of membranes beneath the glazing, restoring ventilation through new operable windows, resolving leaks to improve weathertightness, and installing a man safe system for safe maintenance access.

In addition to the facade system, the verification and appraisal of the existing steelwork was also within our scope. Whilst working on the existing structure, we completed inspections and surveys on the steel to obtain confidence in its condition and carried out checks to verify that the roof structure could sustain new loading. This work allowed the existing structure to be retained, consequently, additional embodied carbon associated with a new structure was avoided.

Working with our client and facade contractor to prioritise responsible end-of-life outcomes for the existing glazing, all glazing was collected on-site and sorted to ensure the material was diverted from landfill.

With the glazing and structural elements so closely interconnected, having a single partner to analyse and coordinate both aspects ensured a more cohesive and efficient design process for our client.

We’re pleased to see that Ocean Court has reopened in time for the summer.

Project Team: Nuno Barbedo, Alistair Frost, Ashleigh-Rose Wiggett & Chay Graham