A £5m gallery has been created on the lower ground floor of the Science and Industry Museum’s Grade II listed New Warehouse opening this part of the museum to the public for the first time.
Designed by architectural practice Carmody Groarke, the new 725sq m flexible gallery will host some of the world’s best science exhibitions and experiences in the North, thanks to a £3.8m grant from the DCMS and additional support from other funders.
It is the first project in the museum’s long-term multi-million-pound restoration programme to conserve its historic buildings and open up new spaces.
An improved outdoor welcome area in the lower courtyard of the museum is fully accessible and provides vistas under the historic Viaduct with its round cast iron and square sandstone pillars infilled with brick jack-arching. The Colonnade and area of the site will be incorporated in years to come in new connections and entrances between the Science and Industry Museum, The Factory and the developing St John’s and Castlefield neighbourhoods.
“We are dedicated to inspiring audiences with ideas that change the world. This year has brought home to all of us how fundamentally science shapes our lives. As we all rebuild personally, socially and culturally, and look forward to better things in 2021, we can’t wait to share this phenomenal new exhibition space. Our new Special Exhibitions Gallery will deliver a real step change in increasing access to incredible science exhibitions and collections,” said the museum’s director Sally MacDonald.