Historic spaces beneath Science and Industry Museum to be revealed to public for first time

Work has started at the Science and Industry Museum to create a new 725 square metre
flexible gallery space to open in October.

Used as museum stores until recently, the historic fabric of the lower ground floor will be revealed and restored, allowing visitors to the museum to experience the grandeur and scale of the original warehouse space while enjoying new exhibition experiences.

The project will reveal striking historic spaces previously not open to the public on the lower ground floor of the Grade II-listed New Warehouse, which was built in 1882 to provide storage for the Great Western Railway. It was designed to support the weight of steam trains entering the Warehouse and unloading the cargo through ceiling hatches.

“This new gallery will originate and host some of the world’s best science exhibitions and help establish the Science and Industry Museum as a beacon for contemporary science and major cultural destination in the coming years,” said director Sally MacDonald.

“In revealing this incredible new space, we can’t wait to inspire visitors year-round with more ideas that have changed the world and start to open up new areas of our globally important site.”

The Special Exhibitions Gallery is designed by award-winning architectural practice Carmody Groarke whose recent projects include the critically acclaimed Windermere Jetty Museum and the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre in Liverpool.

The rest of the museum will remain open with an ongoing programme of special exhibitions, experiences and events including current exhibition The Sun.

The Power Hall is also currently undergoing restoration and is due to reopen in 2021.