(Claw of Baryonyx walkeri) Baryonyx means 'heavy claw'. Unusually for a carnivorous dinosaur we know it ate fish as scientists have found fish scales and teeth with its fossil where its stomach would have been.

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Terracotta ornaments

Waterhouse’s plan to clad the entire building in terracotta was pioneering and a world first. Terracotta is a clay best known for making garden pots.

 

Waterhouse sketch

Working with a highly-skilled team of designers and engineers, Waterhouse produced 202 sketches for terracotta ornaments – this one is of a panel on the main staircase of the Central Hall .

Original plans, and a recently-acquired album of sketches, reveal that a Monsieur Dujardin was responsible for turning these detailed sketches into hundreds of ornaments.

  • An ornament is created
    An ornament is created - 01/01/2005 (video)

    See how Monsieur Dujardin and his team of sculptors created these astonishing terracotta ornaments in this video clip.

  • Air pollution discoloured the building
    Using terracotta

    Learn more about Waterhouse’s innovative use of terracotta, where he derived his inspiration, and how the building has been maintained.

  • Sketch for Waterhouse building elements
    Designing the ornaments

    Find out more about Waterhouse’s designs and his painstaking attention to detail.

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