Laboratories 4 & 5

Introduction

​For many people, the first things they see looking across to Orford Ness are the strange and other-worldly ‘Pagodas’. To some extent these mysterious structures characterise the Ness. Some people think they are sinister, others are in awe of the brutalist architecture. For sure, these well-known landmarks on the Suffolk coast have inspired musicians, artists, writers and film-makers.

Click on the button above for the report which sheds some light on how the Pagodas came into being on Orford Ness, why they have such distinctive structures, the environmental testing trials and activities that took place in these laboratories and the people that worked there during this period (1960-67) – at the height of the Cold War.

However, some details of the experimental research undertaken are still unknown as relevant files in the National Archives are still closed to the public at this time.

Labs 4 & 5 drawings
Sketch plan for labs 4 & 5, 1960
© Crown Copyright / AWE 2021 Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Labs 4 & 5 photos
Aerial View of labs 4 and 5 in 2022, with Lab 6 at the back and the control room at the extreme right
©2022 IRGON via Richard Flagg

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Labs 4 & 5 graphics
Isometric view of pagoda showing section planes
© IRGON (Ray Maffey)
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Labs 4 & 5 fly-by
Labs 4 & 5 walk-through
Labs 4 & 5 assembly sequence
Labs 4 & 5 construction with panning cameras