Dome of Discovery

Old Millhillian Ralph Tubbs’ spectacular design for the Dome of Discovery was the centerpiece of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Ralph Tubbs OBE, FRIBA was educated at Mill Hill and the Architectural Association. He went on to work for Ernö Goldfinger from 1935 onward, participating in the design of Goldfinger’s house on 2 Willow Road, Hampstead. In 1940 he designed the Living in Cities exhibition for the British Institute of Adult Education and the Council for Encouragement of Music and Arts. Tubbs’ book Living in Cities provided a fascinating blueprint for life in postwar Britain and it was entirely appropriate that he played a leading role in the design of the Festival of Britain buildings on the South Bank. In 1951, The Dome of Discovery was the largest diameter dome in the world.