In the run-up to the millennium, £1.3bn of National Lottery money was invested in more than 200 projects. Some were controversial, others failed, but these science centres have gone from strength to strength
@Bristol Location: Bristol Twitter: @AtBristol Cost: £96m Millennium funding: £44m Opened: July 2000 @Bristol, which recently installed the UK’s only ultra-HD 3D planetarium, attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.
IMAGE: Lee Pullen
Live shows are popular at the hands-on science centre
Magna Location: Rotherham Twitter: @MagnaScience Cost: £47m Millennium funding: £23m Opened: April 2001 Magna is set in a former steelworks and tells the story of the region’s steel industry. In recent years, the science centre’s financial stability has been in question.
IMAGE: John Edler
The venue is often used for events and gigs
The International Centre for Life (LIFE) Location: Newcastle Twitter: @scienceatlife Cost: £67m Millennium funding: £33m Opened: May 2000 LIFE explores human biology through hands-on exhibits and multimedia displays. It welcomes 250,000 visitors per year.
The 4D motion ride at LIFE
National Space Centre Location: Leicester Twitter: @spacecentre Cost: £84m Millennium funding: £32m Opened: June 2001 Featuring a state-of-the-art dome theatre, this attraction uses personalities and technology to explain our understanding of space.
IMAGES: Osborne Hollis
Moon rock and rockets are on show
IMAGES: Osborne Hollis
Moon rock and rockets are on show
Winchester Science Centre Location: Winchester Twitter: @WinSciCentre Cost: £11m Millennium funding: £6m Opened: March 2002 Previously known as INTECH, this Hampshire science centre attracts 150,000 visitors a year, and sells 100,000 tickets to its digital planetarium.
Hampshire science centre
Glasgow Science Centre Location: Glasgow Twitter: @gsc1 Cost: £71.5m Millennium funding: £35m Opened: June 2001 Glasgow Science Centre is one of the most popular paid-for attractions in Scotland, attracting more than 350,000 visitors annually.
Glasgow Science Centre
Millennium fails Though the Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge and the Eden Project have seen great success, not all Millennium Commission contracts did well, and some were forced to close their doors, including:
• The £15m National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, which predicted 400,000 annual visitors but received only 104,000
• The £42m Earth Centre in Doncaster, which went bankrupt in 2004
• The Public, a £54m digital art gallery in West Bromwich. Much of it never opened
• The £14m Big Idea Centre in North Ayrshire, which closed in 2003 due to lack of finances and low visitor turnout
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An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
In the run-up to the millennium, £1.3bn of National Lottery money was invested in more than 200 projects. Some were controversial, others failed, but these science centres have gone from strength to strength
@Bristol Location: Bristol Twitter: @AtBristol Cost: £96m Millennium funding: £44m Opened: July 2000 @Bristol, which recently installed the UK’s only ultra-HD 3D planetarium, attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.
IMAGE: Lee Pullen
Live shows are popular at the hands-on science centre
Magna Location: Rotherham Twitter: @MagnaScience Cost: £47m Millennium funding: £23m Opened: April 2001 Magna is set in a former steelworks and tells the story of the region’s steel industry. In recent years, the science centre’s financial stability has been in question.
IMAGE: John Edler
The venue is often used for events and gigs
The International Centre for Life (LIFE) Location: Newcastle Twitter: @scienceatlife Cost: £67m Millennium funding: £33m Opened: May 2000 LIFE explores human biology through hands-on exhibits and multimedia displays. It welcomes 250,000 visitors per year.
The 4D motion ride at LIFE
National Space Centre Location: Leicester Twitter: @spacecentre Cost: £84m Millennium funding: £32m Opened: June 2001 Featuring a state-of-the-art dome theatre, this attraction uses personalities and technology to explain our understanding of space.
IMAGES: Osborne Hollis
Moon rock and rockets are on show
IMAGES: Osborne Hollis
Moon rock and rockets are on show
Winchester Science Centre Location: Winchester Twitter: @WinSciCentre Cost: £11m Millennium funding: £6m Opened: March 2002 Previously known as INTECH, this Hampshire science centre attracts 150,000 visitors a year, and sells 100,000 tickets to its digital planetarium.
Hampshire science centre
Glasgow Science Centre Location: Glasgow Twitter: @gsc1 Cost: £71.5m Millennium funding: £35m Opened: June 2001 Glasgow Science Centre is one of the most popular paid-for attractions in Scotland, attracting more than 350,000 visitors annually.
Glasgow Science Centre
Millennium fails Though the Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge and the Eden Project have seen great success, not all Millennium Commission contracts did well, and some were forced to close their doors, including:
• The £15m National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, which predicted 400,000 annual visitors but received only 104,000
• The £42m Earth Centre in Doncaster, which went bankrupt in 2004
• The Public, a £54m digital art gallery in West Bromwich. Much of it never opened
• The £14m Big Idea Centre in North Ayrshire, which closed in 2003 due to lack of finances and low visitor turnout
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
