Rotunda Trust

Building Preservation Trust

Press

A press kit for the Rotunda Trust bid: film, recent coverage, images, and a downloadable media pack. Journalists are welcome to use the materials below in editorial coverage of the Rotunda and its restoration.

Film

Rotunda Irrepressible, a short film made in support of the Rotunda Trust bid. 3 minutes 42 seconds. FennecMedia, March 2026.

Rotunda Irrepressible – in support of the Rotunda Trust bid
The film is also available on Vimeo at vimeo.com/1180517747. Embed code on request.

Recent coverage

Charles Saumarez Smith · St George’s Pool · 27 April 2026

The Woolwich Rotunda

A building of extraordinary architectural and more purely structural interest.

Read on charlessaumarezsmith.com

London Now · 27 April 2026

Grade II* listed Woolwich Rotunda still on sale after years of standing empty

A newly-formed Rotunda Trust has reportedly expressed interest in buying the site.

Read on london-now.co.uk

Time Out London · Eloise Feilden · 25 April 2026

This iconic abandoned south London building, which was designed by a famous architect, is up for sale

The 200-year-old Rotunda in Woolwich Common could soon be transformed into a new music and theatre venue.

Read on timeout.com

The Greenwich Wire · Darryl Chamberlain · 21 April 2026

Woolwich Rotunda: Trust aims to restore the ‘200-year-old Millennium Dome’

The trust wants the Rotunda restored so it can host community and commercial events, as well as live music and theatre, as well as opening it to visitors for the first time in more than a quarter of a century.

Read on greenwichwire.co.uk

The wider site

The Rotunda parcel sits within a 1.65-acre disposal site that includes a former tractor shed, a small gatehouse, and an ancillary annex. The trust’s bid is made in coordination with the Greenwich Enterprise Board, a Greenwich-based not-for-profit social enterprise that has restored listed buildings in the Royal Borough for over forty years, including the Eltham Orangery and the Royal Arsenal Gatehouse. Under the proposal, GEB takes a long lease on the wider site and converts the ancillary buildings to affordable workspace under the working title Woolwich Studios. The visualisations below are reference images, not consented planning proposals.

Visualisation of the Rotunda within a restored public realm of paths, seating, and planting.
The Rotunda within a restored public realm. Visualisation courtesy Greenwich Enterprise Board.
Aerial visualisation of the wider site looking east, with the Rotunda and Woolwich Studios visible.
Wider site aerial, view east.Greenwich Enterprise Board.
Visualisation of Woolwich Studios viewed from the west.
Studios from the west.Greenwich Enterprise Board.
Visualisation of Woolwich Studios viewed from the south.
Studios from the south.Greenwich Enterprise Board.
Visualisation of Woolwich Studios viewed from the north.
Studios from the north.Greenwich Enterprise Board.

Interior photographs

Interior photographs of the Rotunda taken by FennecMedia in March 2026, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. Free to use in editorial coverage with credit to FennecMedia.

Interior of the Rotunda showing the conoid roof geometry.
Interior geometry.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
Wide interior view of the Rotunda looking south.
Wide interior view.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
The central Doric column with the painted names of 39 Royal Artillery officers.
Central column.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
The colonnade interior with cast iron columns and arched windows.
Colonnade and arched window.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
Original 1814 cross-bracing between principal rafters.
1814 cross-bracing.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
Detail of a mechanical connection at a principal rafter node.
Iron strap connection.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
Horizontal bracing between principal rafters.
Mid-height bracing.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.
The central Doric column from below, with the radiating principal rafters above.
Truss perspective from the column.FennecMedia, CC BY 4.0.

Historical plates

Historical prints, drawings, and photographs of the Rotunda are in the public domain. Higher-resolution files and the full image library are available via Wikimedia Commons and The National Archives.

The earliest known view of the Woolwich Rotunda, 1820.
Earliest view, 1820.Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Grant's view of the Rotunda, 1844.
Grant’s view, 1844.Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The Rotunda, Woolwich, by William Ranwell, c. 1860.
Ranwell view, c. 1860.Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Aerial photograph of the newly restored Rotunda in 1975.
Aerial, 1975.Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Exterior of the Rotunda, south face.
Exterior, south.Stephen Craven, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Section drawing of the polygon building at Carlton House, May 1814.
Section, May 1814.The National Archives, WORK 43/576. Crown copyright expired.
Carlton House, South Front, from Pyne's Royal Residences, 1819.
Carlton House, 1819.Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The Revolving Temple of Concord, 1814.
Temple of Concord, 1814.Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The full Wikimedia Commons image library for the Rotunda is at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rotunda,_Woolwich.

Media pack download

Rotunda Trust Media Pack (PDF, V1.1, April 2026)

Five pages: trust summary, the wider site and GEB partnership, recent coverage, and the full image library with credits and source links.

Press contact

For interview requests, additional images, site visits, or background briefings, please write to hello@rotundatrust.org.uk. Response within one working day.

Lara Ruffle Coles, Director, Rotunda Trust Limited.