[3] It occupied the site of a cinema destroyed in the Second World War,[4] and seated an audience of around 330 people beneath a horizontal dome approximately 18.29 m (160 ft) in diameter.
In 1995, Digistar II was installed as part of a £4.5 million redevelopment, adding monochromatic 3D journeys through virtual outer space and others.
The Planetarium was used to teach students from University College London's astronomy department the complexity of the Astronomical coordinate system.
In 2004, the planetarium was upgraded to a full-colour Digistar III system that allowed for both pre-rendered and real-time shows to transport the audience in an immersive full-dome video environment to outer space.
Dr. Henry C. King served as Scientific Director before opening and managing the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto, Canada.