The idea of putting the bridge on the top of the ship was because Roddenberry served in the military in WWII. Most navel vessels have the bridge at, or close to, the top of the super structure. He based a lot of things in Star Trek on how it was done in the navy.

When there is a sudden stop or something where inertial dampers do not seem to be able to catch up, people jolt forward, not sideways. Hence, in my mind, the bridge faces forward.

I'm 64. As a kid, before blueprints and plans and when we just had the first model kits, I'd always heard that the bridge was offset. That was the general agreement in that generation. It made speculating about the interior more interesting. When the blueprints first came out, we thought our speculations were confirmed as fact. However, and this is what separates "Trekkers" from "Trekkies", the reason the bridge is configured the way it is was for shooting purposes. It was never based on any ship plans , but only set design blueprints. That is the reason for everything on Star Trek. Visual aesthetics. They built the models, and the sets and designed the uniforms all to be visually interesting. That's all.

The debate was actually settled on-screen in the very first episode. In The Cage, the very first scene zooms in on the Enterprise, zeroing in on an overhead shot of the bridge through the dome. The bridge is clearly facing forward. For this reason, I agree that your model of the bridge is the canon one. HOWEVER, the Enterprise had a refit between Pike and Kirk. Since the ship is modular and the newer bridge dome was visibly more shallow with updated equipment in the bridge itself, it COULD be argued that the main TOS bridge was a newer module that was too big for the Deck 1 slot, requiring them to slot it in at a diagonal and remove the outer corridor. Of course, it could be argued again that the engine refit between seasons 1 and 2 may have resulted in the bridge module once again being replaced so it could once again face forward or vice-versa. The real problem behind the whole debate is one of scale. Star Trek is notorious for designing sets without proper scaling to the models, meaning you can't fit the sets into the hull if you match scales. No matter which side you're on, the bridge isn't to proper scale with the outer hull, with forward being too big and angled being too small. Also, since The Cage was officially the pilot and the ship was refitted before the first of the Kirk episodes, it's not uncommon for the angled bridgers to ignore those opening shots. Officially, Star Trek canon has always been defined as what's seen on-screen, so again, the establishing shots of the bridge in the cage show that forward-facing IS the official canon, but there's wiggle room in the argument since that shot wasn't replicated anywhere else in TOS. So is anyone really wrong at the end of the day?

The fact that we think of these things, the nuance of Star Trek, makes me very proud.

In the original series when they showed the bridge through the dome in the top of the saucer, it is facing forward.

I agree. It's the existence of the view screen (as opposed to a window) that makes the angled solution more compelling than it might otherwise be. But also, as you said, it's a fictional ship... so you can reproduce it anyway you want. So long as it makes sense to you... that's (IMHO) all that counts.

7:38 - - a super-quick rough mockup! 😃👍🏼🕊

I’m with you, the bridge screen isn’t offset. I can’t imagine any engineer designing it like that. More realistically, though, it really is just the set designers coming up with something that looks cool and then trying to find a way to come up with an explanation later on. It’s all fictional and not much more than a TV production curiosity.

I’ve always taken the bridge in the story to be centered forward. I understand that the doors were moved to help with filming, and it makes for much better stagecraft. There’s a technical version and a drama version. So, there’s a dissonance - and that’s okay.

*Believe me, I feel your pain. I began working on the Millennium Falcon on SketchUp a couple of years ago, including a detailed rework of the interior. It is incredibly frustrating to be "film accurate" and real.* *My project has been to produce plans that are "if you were really going to build it" real.* *Love your content, can't wait for the completion!*

Watch the Menagerie. It's the very first view of the bridge and the camera goes through the top of the ship into the bridge. This was Rodenberry's original vision that studios told him was too cerebral. Therefore that orientation should be the definitive cannon orientation.

I go all the way back to the original airing of TOS and have the blueprints and tech manual. I like your reasoning for no offset. It makes sense when you take into account whenever the ship took a hit or hard to port/starboard the crew would lean accordingly.

Regardless of one's position on the position (ha, I'm a wordplay master) of the bridge, I really appreciate your thoughtful and respectful nature. I wish more people could be like that, myself included. 4:30 On the relative vulnerability of the bridge, I don't know that I agree that it's something that designers would be so concerned about in the way you (and most people) are thinking. The fact is, the entire ship is vulnerable, hugely. Every bit. There's little sense in over-thinking how to protect this versus protect that versus protect this when whoever you position between it and the exterior will simply die instead. What truly protects the bridge is not "layers of decking" but simply not being attacked/struck in the first place, meaning... the shields. What protects the bridge is the shields. Once the shields fail, everyone's screwed, not just the ones near the outside surfaces. And still, if outside surfaces were seen as vulnerable to the extent it was desirable to get crew as far away from it as possible, all Starfleet ships would be built as near the shape of a ball as possible and not sprawling out like a pancake begging to keep crew as vulnerable as possible. So, no I think any thoughts about that sort of thing with designers would simply fall back on "that's the shields’ job, not the actual walls or where a guy stands in the ship.” And, as for why there's a secondary bridge on the ship isn't to simply "have one buried safer within the decking" as much as simply redundancy. It's better to have 2 than 1, and it's better separate than adjacent to each other. Anyway, once all that is established, then the issue is where does the command of a ship belong relative to the rest of the crew? Well, a "commanding position", above, on top, high. It's psychological. It doesn't serve the atmosphere of command to not only take the commanders away from the "perceived" top of the ship, but bury them timidly inside the ship and put the crew in-between them and the danger, making them like human shields, body fodder. No, that is the opposite of how a true command wants to be seen. So the place for the command personnel is smack dab on top of the ship, and so long as the shields are functional, everyone's safe until nobody's safe.

This seems to fit in with "Requiem for Methuselah" where the bridge seems to act like a window and is facing directly forward as Kirk seems to be peeking in at the bridge and crew through it.

A turbolift to the Deck 7 Bridge might still be a good idea though, since the concept was to speed staff swiftly to the command centre!

When Gene Roddenberry first approved the design of the ship and set, the elevator was in the back and the view screen (window?) was in the front (as you'd expect). The bridge portion of the model was much bigger, indicating the ship itself was smaller. One of the reasons for the bigger bridge was so he could do his outside-to-inside shot through the view screen (there's a blue screen video of this attempt with the ship slowly turning to face the camera as it zooms in on the white rectangle on the front of the bridge; to be replaced by a shot of the bridge set, one would assume). The bridge set did have the elevator directly behind center seat as per the design. For whatever reason, the through the front window shot didn't work, so they had to go through the top dome instead (which also didn't quite work, but what are you going to do?). Aside from being the standard location for a bridge for many years, I suspect the need for this outside-to-inside shot was another reason for the bridge being on top. Before the second pilot was made, they made changes to both the model and the set. They replaced the bridge part with a much smaller shape (thereby making the ship about twice it's original size if not more). They also moved the elevator to the back left of the bridge set instead of directly behind (it worked better cinematically). They kept the elevator bump in the back of the new bridge shape, though. I don't know if this was because a connection wasn't made or if the change in the set happened after the change in the model. Thus the issue with the offset. As for your emergency bridge, it seems silly to me to have a corridor going around the bridge. Why not just have a door on either side (I *do* like that idea) go straight into a hall. Or better yet, one door is a turbolift while the other goes directly into a hallway (possible where the bridge crew quarters are located?). BTW, my hat's off to you for doing this. This is obviously a LOT of work and a labor of love and we the fans appreciate it. Thank you for letting us geek out with you. 🙂

When I was a kid I dreamed of an Action Figure sized Enterprise. Living vicariously through you.

I believe that there should be a turbo lift access, maybe not directly adjacent but within a corridor as this secondary bridge would be in the center of the saucer, where the turbo lift shaft would be anyway

0:11 There must always be an elevator car available for the captain or 1st officer. I believe there are 2 cars stored behind Lt. Uhura's station. That is why there is a bulge. The bridge should never have to wait. By the way, your bridge looks beautiful. Serious skill.

That’s amazingly detailed.

I totally agree with you that it just feels right for the bridge to be orientated facing straight forward, but this is your ship and you're putting the work into it, so you can do something different if you wished.

The new Tomy 1/350 diecast TOS Enterprise, released in October 2023, has the bridge facing forward with the turbolift doors offset.

Aboard naval subs, the boat's alignment correlates with the crew's understanding of said orientation, as does every bit of equipment aboard. The last thing damage control measures need is doing math while combatting a deadly situation. For anyone thinking the computer would do all this is overestimating of what tech would be available in these kinds of situations.

100% agree your logic and reasoning.

I think most people would say "Let's see what's out there" and mean moving forward. Nobody would say let's see what's back there. But that's humans, it could be something different for different species. I love how ST gets us all speculating on a fictional universe. Especially from what was a small oversight from a prop designer. 🖖😊

Big love for your work as you know. My view, as Captain (and as a film maker and model builder) - the angle is a camera cheat; it's throwaway, in a way. If you average the more meaningful narrative cues/hints, in the world of the ship, the bridge faces forwards, even if the tech is wrong (again, it's just a fudge, not intentional, not holy, just a tool for the shot) - no model has ever been made after it. My answer, if wanting to make absolute technical sense - which it never likely will! - would be to engineer the section on a rotating plaftform for demonstration of the fudge, while not compromising the visual

2:05 There has to be a way to clear a turbolift car from the entrance to the bridge, that's a canonical requirement, in The Naked Time Kirk orders Uhura to clear the tube so he can leave the bridge. So your solution works great.

There is a circle here that cannot be squared. As mentioned the bridge is shown through the top sensor dome at the very beginning of Pike's episode. The bridge is facing forward. But as the camera zooms in it also shows the turbo lift door to the side, not at the rear. Yet the turbo lift must be at the rear of the bridge as that is where the turbolift shaft is. So even Pike's bridge has the door in the wrong place. It is unclear how much headroom there is around the perimeter of the bridge but it does not look like much room and not a full deck height. No room for the turbolift to slide over to where the door is. Seems to me that this is just one of those little inconsistencies where the ship design and bridge design just do not match.

The only sad thing about this build is that it's about 4 years before we will see the final result 😂. And I'm so excited to see it finish 🥰.

FWIW, the TOMY 1/350 Enterprise I recently got, which was modeled after the original screen used model in the Smithsonian has the bridge facing straight forward..

i saw a blueprint of the Franz Joesph Dreadnought Class they did put the Bridge deeper in the saucer section

I am a purist TOS fan. and i am so glad to hear you are maintaining the size/scale of the outer bridge structure. I understand and agree with you logic regarding the storage turbo lifts but not at the expense of outerbridge/ship proportions. And i agree and condone the side access emergency bridge. And don't forget about secondary hull bridge.

The Bridge faces forward. The show always shows it that way. Just cause the elevator doors are at 7 oclock INSIDE doesn't mean the thing is cocked up. You nailed it, the elevators slide right and down,

Hey Mr Trek; love what you're doing! Hope I might get a chance to see your Enterprise and hangar deck builds one day. To my mind, the entire bridge is lined up with the center line of the ship, and that's the way I'm going to build my New AMT model of it, with the complete walls all around and extras not in the original kit. Also with a dome over it and clear top dome to see down into and maybe the window seen in the second pilot. In "Requiem for Methuselah" we also saw that the bridge screen also functions as a "window" though probably fed from a scanner outside on the surface of the bridge dome. In Where no Man... There was a window on the front of the bridge, presumably before the major refit she obviously went through before the Corbamite Maneuver (the first production episode) While I still love my Franz Joseph blueprints there's a lot of inaccurate details in them. (A bowling alley in a star ship! Really!?). Any bridge blueprints I've ever seen have been wrong about the alignment. But the Joseph blueprints have many things incorrect and one of the biggies is his failure to address what's inside those four big windows port and starboard on the edge of the saucer. The blueprints don't match the kind of rooms that should be there. To my mind, those are large roomy crew lounges/rec decks which were relocated to the back of the saucer and arboretum on the movie ship, and with all the extra windows around the saucer where people can look out at the stars or at the planet they're orbiting. And of course, the movie ship does have twin turbo lifts! And in one episode we saw the turbo lift shaft "clogged" so they couldn't get off the bridge. Anyway, I could talk Trek all day but this is enough for now. Keep on building dude, it's gonna be awesome!

Watching the show, seeing what the crew/actors do on the bridge when the ship is hit at the front, you can see the rotation! Take a look at "Balance of Terror" just as Kirk says "...limited range.."

One thing I noticed is that when people make a model of the Enterprise's bridge, they always put the turbolift such that the top of the turbolift matches the top of the bridge (which is logical). However, if you look at the 11' model, the circular tube thing that's supposed to be the turbolift only goes about halfway up the level of the bridge. So if you want to make a decision on if the bridge needs to be offset, you'd have to build the entire "bump" on the saucer to see what can fit where.

Been following for a while. On the one hand you are utterly mental. 1:25 Constitution out of cardboard. Crazy idea... Except in a previous career I worked in theatre. Back stage. I went to drama school which taught me the basic skills for LX, sound stage management, costume, lighting design and theatre design... Designers make model boxes of sets and theatre spaces. 1:25. I was taught using mounting board card, but one can use foam card, plasticard... And cardboard. So it IS possible.... Then I listen to your plans... How your displaying it, building it. Supporting it when in place... I still think your metal for trying this, but that doesn't mean it won't work or get close enough to working it doesn't matter..... And it's thought and consideration to thing like this that makes me think it could work and if it doesn't you already have enough to show something already very cool

When you first envisioned the bridge facing forward with the turbo lifts in a very functional position I was in complete agreement. You should have from that early point made the necessary adjustments and dimensions for that forward facing view to not have to adjust your view now

The TOS set was built offset strictly for filming.

Auxiliary bridge should be in the secondary hull to allow for saucer separation.

I always thought the bridge faced forward, how else could the bridge crew lean sharply to the left and/or right in unison during maneuvers. Or suddenly be thrown forward when some tractor beam/space anomaly/giant hand grabs the ship. I assumed the turbolift worked as you mentioned, with spare lifts stowed off to the side. That's one sweet-looking model, I must say. Thanks for sharing.

In The Cage, this is literally the first few seconds of the intro to Star Trek and is really at the heart of the debate. It clearly shows that the production set’s turbo lift doors don’t align with the shooting model’s turbo lift exterior “bump.” To me, it makes the entire debate mute as both are there. As is well known, the set design had the lift doors to the left rear to allow the camera to show crew entering and leaving without them being blocked by the center seat position. The technical advisor to TOMY (Greg Kerr) chose to have the TOMY 1/350 model bridge face forward. The Polar Lights kit allows for either option. In my own opinion the bridge should face forward and I’m fine if others think it should be offset. In a similar fashion to this inconsistency, the filming model originally had a rectangular “window” on the outside. This would have suggested that the view screen was indeed a window and thus backed up the forward facing bridge concept. For myself, I take the idea that it is a view screen. But like the intro shows that the bridge is facing more forwards than offset, the model was indeed made with an exterior window of a sort. This would be consistent with aircraft and naval ships and thus was likely why the model maker built it that way. In my own headcanon, I imagine the bridge to have room for a “ready use” lift pod even though there isn’t room outside of the bridge. Again, the view shown in The Cage does not have room for a corridor with standby pods but it allows for the exterior bump to not need to align with the doors and also those scenes (as the video says) with a pod appearing on demand after one has just been used. I might borrow the idea of the Tardis and say that the Enterprise bridge is bigger on the inside. 😁

I know you are making a model of the original series model but this explanation of the secondary bridge looks and fits with what the Bridge looks like and is set on Star Trek VI the undiscovered country, with the access to the bridge is slightly forward and not behind the captain's chair.

Honestly I think the biggest problem of the Enterprise, is the algorithm that controls the turbolifts!!!! I've been a programmer for decades and I cannot come up with an algorithm to keep the turbolifts running... there needs to be parallel tubes in some places to help.

What you seem to miss is that the model was built before the sets and there was no communication between the 2 builders. So, the tube behind the bridge is there, in the wrong place by miscommunication.

I find myself to be to be an originalist when it comes to the bridge. I go back to The Making of Star Trek and the design sketches and drawings of Matt Jefferies. Jefferies designed the bridge to be the entirety of deck 1 and his bridge design fits inside the original bridge dome. He even came up with an answer when they made the bridge shorter for the series run. He lowered the bridge which can be seen in his cross section published back in 1967. so it still fits the same way under the dome, it just is inset into deck 2. And a very good reason as to why the bridge is on top is that it allows easy upgrade of the entire bridge module where a bridge deep in the hull cannot be easily replaced as a unit. So I am good with the way Franz Joseph drew it (and incidentally, FASA just used his plans and tweaked a few small things and changed the scale and added more detail). I'm not a supporter of the bridge needing to face forward. This is the 23rd century with artificial gravity. The bridge can face any direction the designers care to install it and the bridge crew aren't going to notice the offset.

I'm with you also on the position of the bridge. Your view of how the turbo lift system would work makes the most sense.

Mr. Trek, you have posed an interesting question in the title. Perhaps the following may be food for thought in resolving this, therefore satisfying the differences that have been debated. Whether conscious or unconsciously during the video you rotate the bridge in your explanations. Essentially the bridge is a wheel in that context. A large 'Lazy Susan'. So what is the proposed resolution? The ship is known to reconfigure somewhat with moving bulkheads. Why wouldn't other pieces move? Turbolift tubes, tunnels and conduits may move. 1.) Rotating Bridge Mechanism. The bridge and saucer are circular implying engineering function and purpose. The bridge could incorporate a rotating mechanism, or moving parts or sections within the outer structure of the starship. It may line up with turbo lift shafts, or have a ring that does this. This innovative feature would enable the bridge to reconfigure itself, aligning with the ship's operational needs. Though a different show but for illustrating, the Battle Star Galactica bridge rotates. Discovery had a distinctly visible rotating ring implying this is part of Starfleet design somewhere. For instance, in battle mode or specialized operations, the bridge could rotate and reposition itself within the outer skin or structure, providing enhanced functionality and strategic advantages. 2.) In refits and builds we see a modular bridge design and interchange. There have been several bridges for the same constitution class for instance. It implies, though not necessary seen clearly, that the whole bridge could be detached just as the saucer could or Captains yacht in some starship designs. This may happen at shipyards, orbital platforms or starbases. In the context of engineering and design considerations for the Starship Enterprise, the concept of a modular and reconfigurable bridge presents an innovative and adaptable solution. This proposal aims to provide a clear and easily understandable explanation of this concept for presentation and consideration by engineers and designers. It may also be a downplayed classified detail that Starfleet employs so enemies cannot target exactly what they think are key vulnerabilities and essential systems. The question then may be, where does the bridge rotate or move around? The proposed design involves a reconfigurable modular bridge system, allowing for the interchangeability of bridge modules to accommodate various operational requirements. Each module would be tailored to specific functions, such as command, navigation, tactical operations, and scientific research. This modular approach whether also couples with rotation or reconfigurable pieces enables seamless adaptation to different mission profiles and operational modes.- Warm regards and thanks as always.

Ok,all ships systems,functions can also be controlled in auxiliary control,there should be a stand by crew near that area in case of such event as in the episode Doomsday Machine.

Build it like you want it to be. you are the one putting all the blood, sweat and tears into this major undertaking. You must be the captain of your own ship and feel confident in the final decision. We are just glad we are along for the ride. In the end we should know by the work you have been putting in that it will be executed with the greatest of care, whether it is offset or centered. Keep up the great work.

As I recall, the 18 degree offset was for filming, allowing the doors to be seen beside the primary characters. Why not rotate the screen and step down platform 18 degrees, move a wall panel and add turbolift storage on deck 2? Just a suggestion.

Your emergency bridge concept is very similar to a full scale tos enterprise build I know of in a game called Space Engineers. Build was made by a guy called [Civil] on steam. It’s a neat concept. I didn’t end up putting my emergency bridge there when I built one in the same game, but I do see why it makes sense

Almost forgot! Your central bridge is a good idea, but of course in the show, they only had auxiliary control, though Joseph's blueprints DO show a full second bridge in the ship. Oddly, in "The Cage", we see the bridge facing forward and the turbo lift offset from the bridge shaft when we come up over the bridge dome and down into the bridge, giving alot of credence to your idea! It's a old common idea in fandom that there's a space between the bridge walls and the outer dome to facilitate maintenance and other things, and that certainly allow room at the rear of the bridge dome for the extra turbo lifts. You know, I bet that's where they keep the space can! I mean, when you gotta go, you gotta go!

6:20 There is no camera on the outside of one of there ships. They have external sensors that "sees" what is going happening outside the ship. This is why the captain can order the con officer to show what is behind the ship or in front of the ship or even view the hull of the ship. If there was a camera there would be limitations on that could be seen, for example the Hubble Space Telescope can’t view the moon it would block the view of the the camera in the telescope and look like your thumb blocking a picture you take on your phone. Also camera has a depth of field, meaning that there is a limitation on the area that a camera con have a range of focus of some thing that is close would be be blurry an so would things that are very far away and it would be very difficult if not impossible to keep a very fast moving object in focus as it moves. However when the Enterprise encounters Fesarius in the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver" the ship stays in focus from when it is first in visual range until it is right in front of the Enterprise.

Something to keep in mind regarding the bridge: The only time we actually saw the location of the bridge, it was in "The Cage", where the bridge dome was twice as tall, and therefore considerably wider, with the clear intent that the bridge faced forward. My stance is that with the shorter bridge dome on the production version, they didn't shortened the dome, they lowered it.

Awesome video series! Great work! Thanks for sharing! - Batman.

Can’t wait to see it!

Roddenberry was in the United States Army Air Force , rank of Captain with the 394th bombardment squadron 41&45...

I can't wait for the build to start! It's going to be amazing!!!

I hope your final design becomes cannon! But, I really do not think that upsizing the bridge exterior to fit your bridge design would look noticeable with no other modifications done to the exterior. The difference in size between the bridge dome and the teardrop blister is enough to accommodate the extra size without looking odd. Considering the creative license you are taking with so much of the ship, I would put your design on the finished model.

The idea of the bridge being at the very top of the ship is a holdover from watercraft that need the view. This is in space and your logic holds that the bridge would be protected in the center. I love how you're living your dream! Go, man, go!!

The lift was offset on the bridge for a particular camera shot. The production team wanted the camera to be on Captain Kirk, when the different guess stars entered the bridge, so they entered in camera shot, just over his left shoulder. In reality, it simply does not matter how the bridge is placed in the ship, it could be upside down and backwards for all we know.

The bridge is offset I believe. It is even shown that way in the Starfleet technical manual which was the first of it's kind when it came out. Why I don't know the reasoning behind the offset design but if we did it your way the bridge section would be too large. That cylindrical bulge at the back is the turbolift shaft which only goes down or up. Once it reaches the saucer section then the turbolift can move sideways. It has no reason to go sideways on the bridge which will make it a waste of space. If you ever watched Captain Scarlett during the late sixties or seventies the SPV vehicle had the driver's position facing backwards where the driver looked at a video screen that showed the forward view. Very strange.

Hope I get to see you finish it. Time is the fire…

I'm of the 'bridge facing foward' camp, for lots of reasons. I'm curious how those who argue that the bridge is at an offset, deal with the fact that in the episode, "The Menagerie" (as well as in "The Cage), it is very clearly shown, as the camera sweeps up to and over/into the ship, that the bridge is facing foward and that the turbo lift is off to the side of the bump on the back that is on the outside of the hull.

Facing forward, i believe the turbo shaft can support the turbolift accordingly. That's how i made my 1:350 Enterprise bridge.

I like your ideas on the bridge and it’s position. There will always be controversy over what the actual layout of the bridge is and that’s fine with me, it’s a fictitious ship that was built for tv. I love how you designed the emergency bridge identical to the main bridge, that makes sense to me as if the crew are going to the emergency bridge the last thing you need is a quick familiarisation tour before getting back into action. Lime in the army, we used to have out vehicles set up identically, that way, if you had to bail and grab another vehicle you knew exactly where everything was straight away.

I am 100% a "forward facer". There is NO WAY they would build a ship with a bridge that wasn't facing forwards. I see the outer position of the turbolift shaft simply as a "production inconsistency". There's plenty of this in Trek shows, where interiors don't QUITE match exteriors. If you complete this mammoth task, then the choices you've made for your design of this ship is going to carry some historical significance. So why not use this as an opportunity to fix this once and for all? I think you could correct this mistake on your model as follows… Instead of having a circular protuberance behind the bridge, have an elongated block that curves round the back of the bridge symmetrically, reaching round on the port side to where the door is, and reaching an equal distance on the starboard side, where spare turbolifts can wait. This new protuberance would be 72° in total. You could make the edges flow smoothly into the bridge, so it doesn't look like there's something jutting out (essentially just making the back of the bridge dome slightly eliptical. To create a sense of continuity with the original rounded protuberance which jutted out at the back, you could also make it bulge or taper out in the centre, so you still have the central bulge. In order to minimize how much you add to the rear of the bridge, you could also shift all of the bridge slightly FORWARDS internally. So the centre of the bridge is NOT the centre of the saucer, and the domed window above the bridge is actually slightly BACK compared to the bridge centre. Another idea I had (which is nuts) is that the entire internal bridge is a module that can rotate, and when the turbolift door opens, it rotates into position, then rotates back! :-)

Agreed. Well done.

Many seem to think it's off-center simply because of the angle we saw on Star Trek when they were all on the Bridge! Even in that one episode Requiem for Methuselah Kirk looks into a shrunken Enterprise you can see his eyes looking through the view screen and everybody on the bridge was at that awkward angle which I thought was kind of ignorant he should have been looking straight in to see them all on the bridge faced straight at the View screen

The bridge is at the top of the ship because they put the bridge high up on ocean ships. It carries over from that. The idea is that you have a good view of your surroundings. Say what you want about it being a sitting duck and they don't use windows on the bridge, but that's where it comes from. It also makes the bridge highly vulnerable on ocean ships, but they need the view. From the reboot on, they turned the main viewer into a viewer window. It's a controversial choice. I personally would want a solid duranium hull surrounding the bridge than have a transparent aluminum window in it. It doesn't sound strong, but I don't know. It's getting into fictional materials.

Every other ship's bridge faces forward. It's just weird to offset the 1701 bridge. It's a good idea to place the bridge in a less vulnerable position

OCD kicking in... lol. Thanks for the link to the musician. Love her music, thank you!

Watch the intro of the pilot show, The Cage , there is a scene which shows the layout and direction of the bridge . You may find what you are looking for right there .

The bridge faces forward. I cant see any other sensible option. I actually like the bridge being on deck 1 for visually dramatic reasons but also so it can be ejected as an escape pod when the bridge crew are done controlling the ship after the rest of the crew are evacuated. I think 23rd century tech is up to the task of protecting it as well as the inner decks. As for the turbolift, could you sink the bridge ½ a deck so your ideas fit? I'm even for changing the turbolift bulge on the hull!

As far as Bridge location, consider that without shields, there is a scene where we see a torpedo hit the ventral surface of the saucer, and come out the dorsal section. So once shields are gone, the bridge is just as vulnerable as anywhere else. Though being on top, it is more obvious.

Mike, face that bridge any way you want that works. It’ll be awesome any way you build it.

Apparently, the Dreadnaught Class starship had the main (only?) bridge located at the very centre of the primary hull. Having two bridges on the smaller Constitution Class ship seems somewhat unnecessary. Stranger still, even though the saucer was designed to separate from the engineering section, the drive section didn't have it's own bridge.

Your explanation of a second lift car in waiting paves the way for the addition of a second turbolift a la the refit. It would also explain why the turbolift entrance placement of the Enterprise A bridge changed from ST IV to ST VI. The question is, is there room within the bridge dome for that space or do you need to rescale?

I would have left the turbo shaft off the exterior of ship. No confusion then of an offset bridge or how it operated. You would be toast if you where in there at a bad time and the ship took some damage. However, it is there, but I believe the bridge faces forward as in other ship bridges. Jeffries modeled it after an aircraft carrier bridge, case closed.

Your idea makes sense.

As you said the lift door was off set for theatrical filming reasons, theres no reason why you can't put it to the rear of your bridge. Having said that I'm disappointed youre not going with your awesome idea of the bridge with the walkway around it and the turbo lift configuration that you had invisaged

It makes no sense for the bridge of the TOS Enterprise to be facing offset when every other ship before and after it all face forward. The Strange New Worlds Enterprise which is supposed to be the TOS Enterprise five years prior is forward facing like all other federation ships before and after the TOS Enterprise. Now it could be argued that since the bridge module is able to be removed and function as a large lifeboat in an emergency maybe, just maybe someone in the dock yard was a bit drunk on duty and put the bridge in skewed to the side 30 degrees and no one corrected it until the refit we see in the motion picture version of the ship. I mean Kirk does walk on that bridge like something is wrong the first time we see him enter it. That's my two cents on it. For me it's always been forward facing with a lift that moves to the side of the bridge in the same space around the outside of the bridge where the bathroom, crew break room, captain's ready room, life support , and emergency batteries are at.

A clue is the turbolift effect... there is a light strip that implies the direction of travel... I believe the travel pod is always shown going straight down from the bridge rather than across then down. This might have implications for how the layout works.

What if you lowered the bridge such that it comes down about halfway into Deck 2? The main walkable area of Deck 2 would be around the perimeter of the bridge and that 1/2 high circular area just below the bridge is for machinery and jeffries tubes, etc. Seems like that would make room for the turbolift storage etc within the exterior dome at the same scale.

If the bridge were offset, wouldn't that be at least somewhat apparent in action scenes where the crew are being jostled about inside the ship? The designs may show the bridge at an angle, but it seems that the crew is directed to respond as if they are facing forward. Of course, in the opening scene of "The Cage", the bridge is shown as offset. So, maybe it was originally at an angle then it got retrofitted later b/c it made it caused the bridge crew to be unbalanced and nauseous? It's sci-fi, we can be creative about it =)

Well, it is not offset! I know we do not have G-force in space yet every time they show 'G-force' they are thrown back in the seats or forward over the controls but not to the side! :)

My question is that Will your secondary bridge be in the same style as the one seen in the Captain Christopher Pike story the Cage which is a mostly grey and black colour scheme as chronologically and logically the technology was replaced when Kirk became Captain giving us the blue and red scheme, seen though out the entire five year mission.

If one goes with the updated Enterprise size from SNW, there's more than enough room for your design to fit.

I agree with you Sir! It’s a decent solution, and I always thought the bridge being in such a vulnerable place was sill or impractical at least!! The only reason why the offset bridge came about was because the original designers Jeffries etc, forgot about the turbo lift shaft on the outside of the model!

There is an episode of the original series where they show the bridges orientation relative to the rest of the ship, and it is definitely off-center

Understanding the whole "line of sight" issue for dramatic effect and good camera angles, I have to wonder why the turbolift module wasn't simply located where the doors are? Was it so necessary for it to be in line? If so, why, for symmetry? Personally, while I like the look of the whole bridge/deck 2/turbolift element, in space symmetry isn't such a big deal, I could have lived with an offset lift

You should build it so that it can swivel. That way it satisfies everyone. The offset idea is just way too much thinking. Why would the show's creators even think of this?

Even before watching I can say with the full confidence of an ignorant person, the Bridge is NOT offset. There's plenty of room in that done for the turbo-lift. That nodule behind the bridge dome on the exterior is a deuterium refill port.... so I've been told.

If we're trying to make this fit common sense and reality, then it would make no sense to have the bridge rotated 36 degrees.* Can you imagine driving your car like this? Anyway, from a _stage presentation_ point of view, the rotation of the bridge DOES make sense because then you can have the turbolift and the Captain's chair in the same shot with the former not being blocked. At the time, it was just a cost-saving necessity (it meant they didn't have to build the other side of the bridge, where the camera is located). * They fixed this issue in The Next Generation by A) having a more fully realized bridge (more of the bridge is actually built) and B) having the main turbolift off to the side (with the ability to reposition the camera if necessary).

It was offset to aid filming. No other real reason, but if it were a real ship, and conform to the blueprints and everything else we've seen on film and elsewhere, it has to be offset. Since there is no "window", it doesn't matter what layout the Bridge is. Everything is internal (which is better for security and structural integrity), therefore, the offset is actually a good thing. This massive "window" shown in the JJVerse (which started it, as I recall), and all the subsequent designs is not really a great idea. It makes a great target for an adversary.

I do like the tgird version its more practical also the starship has inertial dampning so it really would make no difference to the crew they couldnt tell how they were moving anyways in the vacume of space there is no up or down front and rear. Regards😮

Ahoy, Mr. Trek! Incredible work! One question: why do you build smaller test models? And if they're just test models, why do you make them so detailed?

Let's go back to the TOS... When going TO the bridge, the turbolift is going UP when it arrives at the bridge... which would denote that the bridge is indeed offset. If the bridge weren't offset as in your mock up and the protrusion at the back of the bridge which IS centered on the longitudinal axis of the ship, then the turbolift would come up, then shift sideways before stopping at the bridge. This clearly does not happen in the TOS. Later versions of the Enterprise addressed this problem by adding a second turbolift to access the bridge both left, and right of the longitudinal centerline. IIRC Both the Starfleet Technical Manual AND the Original Blueprint set show a single turbolift shaft at the back of the outer hull bridge structure with the bridge offset from the longitudinal centerline of the ship.