Science and Innovation Park facts for kids
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| Former name | National Collections Centre, Science Museum at Wroughton |
|---|---|
| Established | 1979 |
| Location | Wroughton, near Swindon, Wiltshire, England |
| Type | Visible storage |
| National Museum of Science and Industry | |
| National Media Museum · National Railway Museum (Shildon Locomotion Museum) · Science Museum (Dana Centre, Science Museum Swindon) | |
The Science and Innovation Park is a special place near Swindon, England. It is part of the Science Museum Group. This huge 545 acres (221 ha) site is used for many things. It hosts research, filming projects, and stores important items for museums. It is also home to the Science Museum Group's National Collections Centre. This center holds about 80% of all the group's amazing collections!
Contents
History of the Park
The Science Museum took over this large area in 1979. It used to be an airfield for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The museum wanted a big space to store its largest objects. In 2007, the Science Museum Library and Archives also moved here. They got new buildings to keep their collections safe.
Before this, the Science Museum Group, the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum stored items in London. This building was called Blythe House. But the government decided to sell it. So, the Science Museum Group received £40 million. This money helped them build a great new place at Wroughton. It was designed to care for their collections and make them easier to access.
Work on the new main building started in 2018. It was finished in 2021. This building is now the main place for managing the Science Museum Group's collections. In October 2024, a new part called the Hawking Building opened to the public. It was named after the famous scientist Stephen Hawking. This new building helps house the collection and makes it more accessible for visitors.
What Happens at the Park?
The National Collections Centre
The main job of the National Collections Centre is to protect and manage the Science Museum Group's collections. Over 300,000 objects are kept here. They are stored in old aircraft hangars and a new, modern building. This new building is the Hawking Building, named after Stephen Hawking.
The Hawking Building is very large, about 90 meters wide and 300 meters long. It has special labs for fixing old objects. It also has research areas and photography studios. There is a huge storage hall with 30,000 meters of shelves for the collection. Scientists and researchers can ask to see objects by making an appointment. The National Collections Centre also offers tours for the public and school groups.
Some of the cool objects stored here include:
- Douglas DC-3 aircraft
- Ford Edsel motor car
- Boeing 247 aircraft
- Several large airplanes, including the only Lockheed Constellation in the UK.
- A double-decker bus
- A TV detector van
- The world's first amphibious hovercraft
- Early electric cars from the 1900s
- The Woods Press, the last hot metal printing press from Fleet Street
The Library and Archives
The Science Museum Library & Archives are also kept at the National Collections Centre. They hold original scientific, technical, and medical books and papers. These go back over 500 years! The printed collections include rare books and old journals. There are also trade catalogs, exhibition guides, and British patents from 1617 to 1992. Plus, there are over 85,000 books about the history of science, technology, and medicine. The archive collections have personal papers, photos, and company records.
The Science Museum Library started in 1883. It was first part of the South Kensington Museum. In 1907, it moved to the Royal College of Science building. When the Science Museum became independent in 1909, the library became its responsibility.
In 1992, the Library joined with Imperial College London. They formed the Imperial College & Science Museum Libraries. Because more space was needed in London, most of the collections moved to Wroughton in 2007. By 2014, almost all the library was at Wroughton. Researchers can ask to have items brought to the Dana Research Centre and Library in London.
Some important items in the library and archives are:
- Charles Babbage's notebooks and letters.
- Barnes Wallis’s plans for the bouncing bomb.
- Engineering papers and photos from Pearson PLC.
- The nuclear collection of Walt Patterson.
- Letters from Humphry Davy.
- Papers from George Parker Bidder.
- The New Cyclopaedia, or, Universal Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences.
Being Eco-Friendly (Sustainability)
The Science Museum Group wants to be carbon neutral by 2033. This means they want to have no negative impact on the environment. The Science and Innovation Park helps a lot with this goal. It has one of the UK's largest solar farms. This farm was finished in 2016. It can make almost 50 gigawatt-hours of energy each year. This is three times more than the Science Museum Group uses in total!
The Park also has large open grasslands and 30 hectares of native woodlands. Over a hundred bird and bat boxes are there. Log piles, special shelters for reptiles, beehives, and rich grasslands provide homes for many animals. To help nature even more, 1,000 native trees are planted every year. This adds to the 49,000 trees already planted by the Science Museum Group.
The staff offices at the site use solar hot water. Green-roofed bike racks provide space for plants and insects. Special charging points for electric cars encourage cleaner travel. Electric vehicles are already used at the Park. Roads are made from recycled plastic. This helps with drainage and reduces carbon pollution. A special storage area uses hemp and lime. This creates a low-energy, humidity-controlled space. It keeps some of the most delicate objects safe.
The new collections management building is very energy efficient. It uses smart design to save energy. The building materials are chosen to keep the inside temperature stable. This means less energy is needed for heating or cooling. Solar panels on the roof provide some electricity. Biomass boilers use natural materials for heating. Limiting entry points and using smart LED lighting also save energy.
Rainwater at the facility is collected. It creates a large wetland area. This area is surrounded by Clout's Wood, which is a special nature site.
Other Activities at the Park
The Science and Innovation Park is also used for other things. It is a place for research and development. Films and TV shows are sometimes made here. Other museums store their items here too. New technology and energy projects are also tested at the site.
For example, parts of the TV show The Grand Tour were filmed on the old airfield roads. This happened from 2016 to 2019.
See also
