SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY MUSEUM ANNOUNCES PLANS TO EXTEND TRANSFORMATION
As the museum’s first phase of repair and improvement nears completion including the re-opening of the Power Hall in summer 2025, the Science and Industry Museum announces plans for new permanent galleries and improvements to its globally significant site.
• A new Wonderlab gallery is being planned to inspire children to imagine, experiment and play like an inventor.
• Feasibility work will begin this year on a new free Technicians interactive gallery for 11-16-year-olds to inspire tomorrow’s technicians.
• Following extensive external repairs, feasibility work will also begin this year on a new gallery and static rail experience for the historic 1830 station (the world’s first inter-urban passenger railway and world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station) set to re-open ahead of the Liverpool-Manchester railway bicentenary in 2030.
• Feasibility work will also commence in the near future on landscaping and improving access in and around the museum’s Lower Yard to enable a landmark science playground and open the museum site to connect to Manchester and Salford via Water Street and through to Aviva Studios, Liverpool Road and Castlefield.
By the end of 2025, 50% of the Science and Industry Museum’s globally significant industrial heritage site will have been significantly repaired and renewed over the last five years thanks to over £40 million investment secured from national government, charitable trusts and foundations and philanthropists. A new, award-winning Special Exhibitions Gallery is originating and hosting some of the UK’s best science experiences and the Grade I listed Station Agent’s House has been restored and opened as a new holiday property for Manchester with the Landmark Trust. The Grade II listed Power Hall and public realm in the upper half of the site are set to open later this year following significant repair and improvements. Meanwhile, the historic roofs of the listed New Warehouse and 1830 Station together with the museum’s Gantry have been repaired and future proofed for the next century and beyond, along with significant work to decarbonise the site.
The museum is now planning its next projects to continue to create compelling galleries that tell the story of the world’s first industrial city, open-up and celebrate its historic site with fundraising currently underway.
A new Wonderlab gallery is in the planning to be one of the most spectacular, interactive science galleries of its kind. Inspiring children to think, experiment and play like inventors, it will pay homage to Manchester’s rich history of science and invention and the museum site which explores ideas that change the world. Planned to open late 2027, the museum is now seeking an architect and lead designer. An open competition to design Wonderlab opened on 21 February, with architectural and exhibition design practices invited to submit first stage tender returns by 24 March on the Science Museum Group’s Tenders website. The successful designer will be able to draw on the architectural features and history of the museum’s site, reflect the creativity and innovation synonymous with Manchester and enhance the feeling of wonder and awe for the museum’s target audiences of ages 4-10 (plus access for early years) to enjoy.
Science and Industry Museum Director Sally MacDonald OBE says
“Ahead of the Power Hall re-opening this summer and the completion of a mammoth amount of repair work to our wonderful historic buildings, we can now look forward to future compelling galleries that will help us tell the stories of the world’s first industrial city and ideas that change the world.
It’s our mission to open the potential of the whole of this globally significant industrial heritage site - to bring all of it back into use and to celebrate it through a journey that allows visitors to explore and understand how the buildings and structures that the museum cares for connect to the collections and stories they contain.
We want to create more access through the site and make the most of the museum’s outdoor spaces for everyone who lives in and visits Manchester and provide more opportunities to inspire the next generation of innovators, thinkers, creators, technicians and scientists whose ideas will continue to change the world.”
WONDERLAB
Wonderlab is planned to be a playful gallery inspired by inventors and innovators at the heart of the world’s first industrial city, where children can puzzle and persist, build confidence against challenges and revel in exploring ideas that have changed the world. In Wonderlab they will discover: ‘You are an inventor’.
Wonderlab will be awe-inspiring and fun, designed to appeal to 4 -10-year-olds primarily, whilst also working for whole intergenerational groups and early years visitors, no matter their access requirements or level of knowledge. Interactives will be complemented by frequent science shows from the museum’s explainer team in a dedicated new show space.
Inspired by the history and themes of the museum, visitors to Wonderlab will encounter powerful and memorable experiences that encourage them to ‘Think like an inventor’. Visitors will leave Wonderlab motivated to explore, learn and discover more.
FEASIBILITY WORK FOR A TECHNICIANS GALLERY
Feasibility work will begin in 2025 to ascertain whether there is potential for a new free
Technicians interactive gallery for 11-16-year-olds, continuing the Science Museum
Group’s collaboration with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.
