The Hawking Building, a new collection facility housing more than 300,000 objects from the Science Museum Group‘s collection, is offering its first public tours.
The 20,000-square-foot building at the Science and Innovation Park near Swindon is described as an innovative collection management facility.
Among the historic objects to go on view in the new venue are the first vehicle to complete a motorised crossing of Antarctica, objects from NASA space shuttles, and a special toy duck.
Named after Professor Stephen Hawking, the building also houses hundreds of items from his office.
“Having been inspired at the Science Museum as a child, Stephen became a great friend to the Science Museum Group and this is a fitting way to celebrate that life-long relationship and our acquisition of the extraordinary items from his office that will inspire others for generations to come,” said Sir Ian Blatchford, director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group.
He added: “The first public tours of the Hawking Building mark a significant milestone in the transformation of how we research and share our internationally significant collection with the world.”
The £65 million process to record, photograph, digitise, pack, move and unpack more than 300,000 objects in the Science Museum Group’s collection started in 2018 and finished earlier this year.
Hawking Building: an innovative facility
Construction of the Hawking Building began in 2019 and was completed 18 months later. The facility is equivalent in size to 600 double decker buses.
The building’s first public tours are available on select days through 15 November. Tour dates from 7 March 2025 are also available to book. Visitors are led by an expert guide.
Funding for the project came from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury as part of the £150m Blythe House Project. This saw collections from the Science Museum Group, the British Museum and the V&A moved from London to new facilities.
This week, the Hawking Building is hosting local schools for education visits.
Images courtesy of the Science Museum Group
