Mather & Co, a leading visitor attraction and exhibition design consultancy, worked in partnership with interactive design specialists Aivaf on the new world-class science and discovery hub at Belfast’s W5 Science Centre. The popular attraction is now open to the public once more following a £4.5 million investment and redevelopment project.
It is now home to eight new interactive zones. Mather & Co and Aivaf developed two new gallery floors of exhibits, interactives, and engaging audio-visuals to stimulate science learning, and Mather & Co was commissioned to bring theatrical theming and graphics, alongside the cutting-edge interactives.
Focus on learning
“It was really rewarding to design a whole experience where the focus was on facilitating young people’s learning in a fun way,” says Alec Hawkins, graphic designer at Mather & Co. “The design helped expand how engaging and varied this can be for the visitors. Designing for such a heavily interactive space was certainly a challenge but provided a really satisfying and strong outcome.”
W5 Science Centre provides fun STEM learning through real tasks and scenarios, enabling visitors to discover a problem, then design and experiment how to overcome it, finding and understanding a solution. In addition to this, the theming links to Belfast, meaning that guests are exploring real-life tasks that are relevant to their lives.
The interactives designed by Aivaf include open-ended interactivity, so visitors have the freedom to design and be creative.
“Aivaf are extremely proud and honoured to have led a fantastic team in the creation of this exceptional visitor attraction,” says Bruce Davies, managing director at Aivaf.
“We are very excited to finally see the whole exhibition and our interactives in operation, educating and inspiring every visitor. It has been a long and tough journey working throughout the global pandemic, but the results are truly amazing and It was a joy to work with such a creative design team at Mather and Co.”
Wide range of interactives
Interactives include the giant 4m Marvellous Machine, featuring mechanical interactivity that explores ancient mechanics such as Archimedes’ screw, cogs, springs, and levers, and an Energize zone where guests can power the city as they discover more about what energy is and how it is created.
There is also a Move It zone where visitors can build, test and race their own car, which demonstrates key physics theories such as drag, thrust, aerodynamics, speed, gears, materials and grip.
Other exhibits include a highly visual space styled as a landscape, with a cut-out tree that cycles through the seasons and showcases the changes these bring to wildlife and weather, and a projected seafloor interactive.
Guests can then enjoy The Studio, where they can read the evening news or create new characters and bring them to life. Meanwhile, in the Making Sense zone, they will find illusionary interactives, such as walkthrough vortex tunnels and a UV torch interactive. Finally, in the Build It zone, they can create arches, columns, domes, towers, and pyramids, or try out their own building ideas using only their imagination.
This project was made possible through a NI Government grant to support opportunities and engagement with Science in Northern Ireland.
Earlier this year, Mather & Co was announced by the Highland Council as the successful exhibition designer for the project to transform Inverness Castle into a world-class visitor attraction.
