Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the
Clyde Waterfront Regeneration
Clyde Waterfront is a 20 km stretch of the River Clyde, Scotland, running east–west from Glasgow Green in the heart of Glasgow, to Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde. With over 200 projects on both sides of the Clyde, this is one of United K ...
area on the south bank of the
River Clyde in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland.
Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's most popular paid-for visitor attractions. It is a purpose-built
science centre composed of three principal buildings: Science Mall,
Glasgow Tower
Glasgow Tower (formerly known as the Millennium Tower) is a 127 metres (417 ft) free-standing landmark observation tower located on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and is part of the Glasgow Science Centre complex. ...
and an
IMAX cinema
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
...
. It is a
registered charity under Scottish law.
The Scottish tourist board,
VisitScotland
VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other ...
, awarded Glasgow Science Centre a five star rating in the visitor attraction category.
As well as its main location, Glasgow Science Centre also manages the visitor centre at
Whitelee Wind Farm, which opened to the public in 2009.
History
Opened to the public in June 2001, Glasgow Science Centre is part of the ongoing redevelopment of
Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened by the Clyde Navigation T ...
, an area which was once a cargo port known as Prince's Dock. The redevelopment started with the
Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988. As with the other
National Garden Festivals, the Glasgow site was intended to be sold off for housing development, but due to a housing slump in 1987, the developers were unable to develop the land as they intended, and the majority of the site remained derelict for years. Parts were finally redeveloped for the Science Centre and also
Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened by the Clyde Navigation T ...
, including new headquarters for
BBC Scotland and
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
, opened in 2007. The Clydesdale Bank Tower was dismantled and re-erected in
Rhyl
Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd'').
To the we ...
in North
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, however the
Glasgow Tower
Glasgow Tower (formerly known as the Millennium Tower) is a 127 metres (417 ft) free-standing landmark observation tower located on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and is part of the Glasgow Science Centre complex. ...
, built as part of Science Centre complex, stands on approximately the same spot.
The architects of the Glasgow Science Centre were
Building Design Partnership
Building Design Partnership Ltd, doing business as BDP, is a firm of architects and engineers employing over 900 staff in the United Kingdom and internationally.
History
BDP was founded in 1961 by George Grenfell-Baines with architects Bill White ...
, however the Glasgow Tower was originally designed by the architect Richard Horden with engineering design by
Buro Happold.
It was built at a cost of around
£75 million, including £10 million for the Glasgow Tower, with over £37 million coming from the
Millennium Commission.
Science Mall
The largest of the three main, titanium-clad buildings takes a crescent shape structure and houses a Science Mall. In architectural terms it represents the canted hull of a ship, a reference to the adjacent 'canting basin', where vessels were brought to have the marine growth removed from their hulls. Internally, there are three floors of over 250 science-learning exhibits. As is usual for science centres, the exhibits aim to encourage interaction, and can be used or played with as part of the informal learning experience the centre aims to deliver. The building was designed by BDP.
On Floor 1, amongst the many interactive exhibits that demonstrate scientific principles, visitors can access a Science Show Theatre and the Glasgow Science Centre Planetarium. The
planetarium contains a
Zeiss optical-mechanical projector that projects images of the night sky onto a 15m diameter dome. There is an area specifically aimed at young children, called The Big Explorer.
On Floor 2, visitors can explore opportunities in STEM careers in the My World of Work Live interactive exhibition space. There is also The Lab, primarily used as an educational workshop space.
Floor 3 was refurbished in 2012 and reopened to the public on 28 March 2013. It now houses an interactive exhibition about human health and wellbeing in the 21st century, called BodyWorks. Visitors are invited to consider their bodies, health and lifestyle from a new perspective through 115 interactive exhibits, research capsules and live laboratory experiences.
The Ground Floor of the Science Mall contains the ticket desk, cafes, gift shop, and a cloakroom. There are a number of flexible room spaces on the Ground Floor that are used for a variety of educational and corporate purposes: an education space called The Egg; a lecture-theatre space called The Auditorium; and the Clyde Suite, a multi-purpose function space. Access to Glasgow Tower for the public is also via the Ground Floor.
Glasgow Tower
The Glasgow Tower was designed to be the tallest freely-rotating tower in the world. It missed its opening date in 2001 and was plagued by problems since then. and was closed from August 2010 until July 2014.
IMAX Cinema
The IMAX cinema was the first IMAX cinema to be built in Scotland. The single auditorium seats 370 in front of a rectangular screen measuring by and has the capability to show
3D films as well as standard 2D films in IMAX format. It opened to the public in October 2000, and premiered the first film, entitled "Dolphins", several months prior to the opening of the two other buildings. On 6 September 2013,
Cineworld
Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...
took over running the cinema. On 12 May 2021, Cineworld confirmed they are no longer operating the IMAX at the Glasgow Science Centre and intend to surrender the lease. Glasgow Science Centre announced the IMAX theatre would reopen on 5 May 2022.
Funding issues
In June 2004, it was announced that about a fifth of the workforce were to be made redundant following the creation of a funding deal with the
Scottish Executive. In June 2008, the leader of the
Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...
,
Nicol Stephen
Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen (born 23 March 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he ...
, stated that Glasgow Science Centre was facing a 40% cut in government funding.
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
commented on this issue during
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...
saying, "It's unfortunate in Glasgow that as a result of the
SNP, funding has been cut, and they will live to regret that". Although funding for the Scottish Science Centres as a whole has actually increased, it is now being split between four centres using a formula based on visitor numbers, and Glasgow is the only centre to face a reduction in budget. This led to the announcement in July 2008 that 28 full-time jobs were to be cut as a direct consequence of the cuts "in order to secure Glasgow Science Centre's future", according to the Chief Executive, Kirk Ramsay.
In the media
Glasgow Science Centre is located in the
Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened by the Clyde Navigation T ...
area, and as such, is surrounded by the media centres that form the Digital Media Quarter, a
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business. The body covers the eastern and central parts of Scotland whilst similar ...
development initiative, With the opening of the new
STV headquarters in June 2006 and the beginning of broadcast programming from
BBC Pacific Quay in the summer of 2004, it can be expected that more programming will be filmed in the area.
In the
CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...
television programme ''
Nina and the Neurons'', the title character Nina is a
neuroscientist
A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...
who works at Glasgow Science Centre.
In reality, Nina is played by the actress
Katrina Bryan who is not a staff member at Glasgow Science Centre.
See also
*
Dynamic Earth - Science Centre in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, Scotland.
*
Aberdeen Science Centre - Science Centre in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, Scotland.
*
Dundee Science Centre - Science Centre in
Dundee, Scotland.
References
External links
Official websitePhotos of the Science CentrePhotographs taken from the tower and of the tower*
ttp://www.clydewaterfront.com/glasgowsciencecentre_1.aspx Glasgow Science Centre - Clyde Waterfront Regeneration
{{Authority control
Museums in Glasgow
IMAX venues
Planetaria in the United Kingdom
Govan
2001 establishments in Scotland
Buildings and structures completed in 2001
Museums established in 2001
Science centers in Scotland
Science and technology in Glasgow
Charities based in Scotland
Building Design Partnership buildings