We the Curious facts for kids

Quick facts for kids We The Curious
We The Curious, showing Explore to the right, and the Planetarium, within the large stainless-steel sphere and in the foreground a Space Signpost
Former names	at@bristol
General information
Type	Science Centre
Location	Canon's Wharf, Bristol, England
Coordinates	51°27′03″N 2°35′55″W / 51.45085°N 2.59861°W / 51.45085; -2.59861
Opened	2000 (will reopen in 2024)
Closed	2023
Destroyed	2022 (partially)

We The Curious (also known as At-Bristol or "@Bristol" before) is a fun science and arts centre in Bristol, England. It's also a charity that helps people learn.

Inside, you'll find over 250 hands-on exhibits across two floors. You can also chat with the Live Science Team in the kitchen, studio, and lab. We The Curious is home to the United Kingdom's first 3D planetarium. The centre wants to "create a culture of curiosity," which means they want everyone to be curious and ask questions!

Because it's a charity, We The Curious has special programs for the community. They host "Hello!" weekends for groups who don't often visit. They also offer memberships for other charities and community groups. We The Curious works with local schools to plan new exhibits and activities for the future.

Discovering the History of We The Curious

How it Started

We The Curious first opened in 2000. It took over from an older science museum called the Exploratory. The Exploratory was in a different part of Bristol. None of its exhibits or staff moved to the new centre.

The project got a lot of money to start, about £44.3 million from the National Lottery. It also received money from other groups and Bristol City Council. The centre is built on an old dock area called Canon's Wharf.

The main building, called Explore, was once a railway goods shed built in 1906. This shed was one of the first buildings to use reinforced concrete. Both the main building and another old lead-works building are special Grade II listed buildings. They are located near Millennium Square and Pero's Bridge. This bridge connects the centre to other cool places like the Arnolfini art gallery.

When it first opened, the centre had three main parts:

• Explore: This was a hands-on science centre. It had exhibits about mechanics, sound, light, computer science, space, and the human brain.
• Wildwalk: This was a biodiversity centre. It showed life on Earth with live animals, plants, and interactive displays. It even had an artificial rainforest and aquariums.
• IMAX theatre: This was a giant screen cinema.

Wildwalk and IMAX Close Their Doors

The Wildwalk and IMAX Theatre closed in March 2007. They weren't as popular and cost a lot to run. Science centres like this were meant to pay for themselves over time. This was hard for some of the centres that opened in 2000.

At first, the charity had enough money to run all three parts for about six years. But by 2005-2006, this money started to run out. They had two choices: close the whole centre or close Wildwalk and IMAX. Since Explore was more popular and cheaper to run, they decided to keep it open. This way, Explore could become financially stable.

So, Wildwalk and the IMAX theatre closed on March 31, 2007. About 45 people lost their jobs. The Wildwalk building was later turned into an aquarium by Blue Reef Aquarium. The IMAX cinema space is now used for events.

Becoming We The Curious

In September 2017, At-Bristol changed its name to We The Curious. They wanted a new goal: to "create a culture of curiosity." They found that people wanted the centre to be more challenging. They also wanted it to include art, not just science, and be open to everyone.

They thought about over 400 new names before choosing We The Curious. People really liked the new name! We The Curious is now working on a big project called Project What If. It's funded by the Wellcome Trust and other generous groups. A team of over 140 staff members helps run the centre.

The 2022 Fire

On April 9, 2022, a fire started on the roof of the building. Everyone inside had to leave, and a nearby road was closed. Firefighters put out the fire quickly. However, the water they used caused a lot of damage to the upper floors.

Because of the damage, We The Curious had to close. It was first announced to reopen in January 2023. Then, it was moved to January 2024. Now, the earliest reopening date is set for "early summer" of 2024.

Amazing Exhibits at We The Curious

The centre has different areas with exciting themes. Some exhibits are always there, while others change. The ground floor of We The Curious is getting all new exhibits in 2020!

• The Planetarium – This is the UK's first 3D planetarium. You can watch live shows about stars and space for all ages.
• The Tinkering Space – Opened in July 2016, this is a place to design, create, and invent! You can find a giant ball run, robots like Baxter (robot) and Nao (robot), 3D printers, and an air table.
• Food – Explore the science of food in a kitchen and living greenhouse. You can even try making your own creations!
• Live Lab – This is a changing lab space. Visitors can experience real science, like learning lab skills, doing research, and even dissections.
• All About Us – This area opened in 2011. It has 50 interactive exhibits that show how amazing the human body is.
• Real Brain – As part of the All About Us exhibition, We The Curious has an exhibit that shows a real human brain. It helps visitors understand medical science.
• Animate It! – This exhibit was made with Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace & Gromit. You can make your own animated films (2D and 3D). You can also see a film set from Wallace & Gromit's 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'.
• Our World – Discover the world around us through investigation. This area includes Icy Bodies, Giant Bubbles, and the Turbulent Orb.
• Your Amazing Brain – This large section on the ground floor explores the human brain. It focuses on optical illusions and memory.
• Studio TV – This area is like a mock television studio. It also explores sound, light, force, and magnets.
• Space Gallery – This area has exhibits about space travel and discovery. It also leads to the 3D Planetarium, which has many shows each day.

We The Curious has its own workshop on site. Many of the interactive exhibits you see were made by their team! This includes the famous 'Hamster wheel' from the 'Wet Move-it' exhibition.

The building itself was once a railway goods shed. It was updated to hold the centre. The changes included a large glass entrance and a shiny stainless-steel sphere. This sphere holds the planetarium. The architect who designed the changes was Chris Wilkinson.

The building also has a special eutectic tank. It's a 10-meter (33 ft) tall clear tube filled with thousands of balls. These balls contain special salts. When the building gets warm, the crystals in the balls melt. This takes in heat and cools the building. When the building cools down, the salts turn back into crystals, releasing heat. This helps keep the temperature inside the centre steady.

Past Exhibits

• Wildwalk – Wildwalk was an Ecology Science centre. It had two artificial rainforests, aquariums, hands-on exhibits, and live animals. The centre had a large building with a 'living rainforest' attached. It housed over 150 species of animals, including butterflies, crabs, chameleons, frogs, piranhas, seahorses, and snakes. It also had many plants, including a rare, bright red cone from a cycad plant. When Wildwalk closed, all the animals and plants moved to other zoos and nature places. Some parts of Wildwalk's exhibits were moved into the Explore section.
• IMAX – The IMAX theatre was in the same building as Wildwalk. It was the first part of At-Bristol to open, on April 20, 2000. Over 1.1 million visitors saw films there. The movie Cyberworld 3D was the most popular.

We The Curious as a Charity

As an educational charity, We The Curious raises money to help achieve its goal of "creating a culture of curiosity." This means they work on special projects to include everyone. They also do outreach work for groups who can't visit the centre. This includes community groups, schools with low incomes, and hospitals. Many volunteers help with this important work. We The Curious also works with City Academy on a career ladder scheme.

Renting Spaces for Events

We The Curious has rooms and roof terraces above the exhibition space that can be rented for private events. Organizations like Sky News and the BBC have used these spaces. They are also used for conferences, meetings, weddings, and other events. You can even rent out the exhibition floor, Planetarium, Millennium Square, and Anchor Square.

Being Sustainable

Since it started, sustainability has been a key part of We The Curious. The building itself is designed to use low energy. It has a special tank that helps heat and cool the building using only extra electricity from the night.

In 2010, At-Bristol (as it was called then) joined the 10:10 project to reduce its carbon footprint. A year later, they had cut their carbon emissions by 12%!

Since 2010, We The Curious has worked hard to be more sustainable in all areas. They also make sure to include sustainability in their educational programs. In 2011, they won a Gold Green Tourism Award. In 2012, they won a Silver South West Sustainable Tourism Award.

In March 2012, they installed a 50-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array. This produces electricity for the building using power from the sun.

Now, "Strive for Sustainable futures" is one of the main goals of We The Curious. They constantly check how they impact the environment. They want to become carbon neutral as part of Bristol's city plan. They also use their platform to teach people about important environmental issues. This includes supporting sustainable palm oil and reducing air pollution.

Images for kids

• 

  Wildwalk-At-Bristol and the IMAX Theatre from the outside. The large translucent canopy was the roof of the botanical house

• 

  The first part of the botanical house in Wildwalk-At-Bristol; Plants on Land

• 

  Insects; one of the exhibits in Wildwalk-At-Bristol

See also

• List of science centers#Europe