Science and Industry Museum announces reopening date for Power Hall

The Science and Industry Museum is gearing up to mark a monumental milestone by welcoming visitors back inside one of the UK’s most significant industrial heritage buildings.

Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery is a free working gallery that will reopen on Friday, 17 October, when visitors can immerse themselves in the sights, smells, and sounds of the engine-driven ideas and industry that started in Manchester and went on to change the world. It is the latest building to reopen as part of a multi-million-pound regeneration project currently taking place across the Science and Industry Museum to conserve its historic buildings and reveal new spaces for all visitors to enjoy, play, and learn in.

Expect the return of iconic engines, including some that will be running for the first time in more than a decade, alongside a host of new interactives, perspectives, and people stories that reveal the innovation of Manchester’s industrial heritage.

Originally built as a shipping shed for the world’s first inter-city steam-powered passenger railway, Power Hall is a globally important, Grade II listed building. It was the building that the museum first opened back in September 1983, when it became home to one of the UK’s largest collections of historic working engines.

Power Hall temporarily closed in 2019 to allow for urgent repair works, a pioneering de-carbonisation project to reduce the building’s carbon emissions, and a reimagining of its displays, interpretation, and visitor experience. It is now thundering towards reopening, bringing with it a trainload of working machinery, hands-on interactives, and brand-new stories to discover.

A new experience

All the senses will be engaged while exploring this living gallery that showcases a unique collection of historic 19th and early 20th-century working engines, powered by 21st-century carbon-neutral infrastructure.

Stepping back into Power Hall, visitors will rediscover iconic engines that powered everything from cotton mills to railways.

Notable exhibits include Pender, a steam locomotive from the 1870s that transported holidaymakers around the Isle of Man, showcasing its inner workings through a cut-away side, and the Durn Mill steam engine, which powered weaving machinery in an 1800s mill near Rochdale, significantly boosting production and profits while increasing local and global exploitation.

Returning guests will also find a replica of the Planet steam locomotive, built by volunteers in 1992, which originally operated between Liverpool and Manchester from 1830 to 1840, representing a key evolution in steam locomotive design after Rocket.

There will also be a wealth of new stories on display that focus on the people who have powered our lives both past and present.

Whether it’s one of the first women to have a full career as an electrical engineer, or a woman forced to pick cotton on American plantations that were supplied to Manchester’s mills, or a present-day designer of wind turbines, or a control systems engineer who uses ‘digital twins’ to improve real-world industrial processes.

Power Hall will showcase the people whose skills and determination have shaped our relationship with energy, from the Industrial Revolution to greener futures.

Brand new interactives will get visitors’ cogs turning as they build, pump, hammer, and even crawl their way through a number of hands-on activities aimed at putting problem-solving skills to the test. Creators of the future can experiment with motion, mechanics, and building materials to discover what it takes to power industrial machines.

Power Hall is part of one of the biggest heritage restoration projects in the UK and exemplifies engineering in action.

Live demonstrations of the working engines will showcase the skills of the museum’s expert team of technicians, explainers, conservationists, and intergenerational volunteers, alongside budding engineers on T-level placements, who are working to preserve Manchester’s heritage by ensuring past skills endure and future technical skills and careers develop.

It is applying contemporary solutions to keep the locomotives and engines maintained for future generations.

The Science and Industry Museum has worked collaboratively with visitors and a range of diverse groups and partners to develop this multisensory gallery.

They have helped to test ideas, interpretation, and interactive displays to ensure that the experience supports a variety of ages, interests, and enthusiasms. The new interpretation and activities bring to life the stories of these incredible engines in ways that represent and resonate with our lives today.

Sally MacDonald, Director of the Science and Industry Museum said: “This is a hugely significant moment for our museum, the Science Museum Group, and for Manchester. Power Hall symbolises the city’s innovation, creativity, and resilience, and we are overjoyed that visitors will soon be back to enjoy all the amazing objects and stories on display.

“Ideas that began in this city have impacted people and places across the world and shaped life as we know it, and Power Hall showcases this in a very physical way.

Our colleagues who first set up this gallery in 1983 knew that science and engineering have always been crucial to Manchester’s success and future growth. Many people have told me that the Power Hall was inspirational for them as children, and I hope now it can inspire a new generation of inventors and technicians.

“A massive thank you to our fantastic collaborators, partners, and funders for helping us to create this must-see Manchester experience, and of course to our visitors for their patience and sustained interest while Power Hall has been closed. I speak on behalf of everyone at the museum when I say we can’t wait to welcome you back.”

Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery project has been made possible with support from Andrew Law via his personal foundation, AL Philanthropies.

It remains the museum’s largest philanthropic gift to date and will support an education programme centred around the stories and machines in Power Hall, which aims to encourage more young people to pursue careers in STEM by highlighting the diverse people responsible for inventing, building, and powering new technology.

Andrew Law said: “I have been delighted to support the regeneration of Power Hall. As well as being steeped in history – science and industry in the Greater Manchester region is again of central importance to both further education and help drive economic growth. With this iconic building back open, we hope that many will be inspired to pursue STEM learning and careers.”

Other supporters include the Wolfson Foundation, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Headley Trust, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, Atmos International, The Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust, The Zochonis Charitable Trust, and other donors who choose to remain anonymous.

The museum gives a special thanks to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for their significant contribution to the gallery, and to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for funding the decarbonisation of the Power Hall through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, delivered by Salix Finance.

Pioneering architecture and innovative exhibition design

The Grade II listed Power Hall was built in 1855 as the shipping shed for Liverpool Road Station, the world’s first purpose-built passenger railway station. After more than 160 years of exposure to Manchester’s weather, urgent works were needed to restore and improve the building, as well as secure its future.

The museum has collaborated with architect and lead designer Carmody Groarke, the Manchester building contractor HH Smith & Sons, exhibition designers Studio MUTT, and building service engineers, Max Fordham, to repair and protect the building’s heritage, improve the experience for all, and ensure that the globally significant collections and building continue to take pride of place.

Visitors will be welcomed to the 2,500 square metre space through a new central entrance that has improved wayfinding and access. It is reached through the museum’s historic Upper Yard, which now provides accessible routes, as well as seating and planting linked to the history of the site, which has been designed by landscape architects Planit working alongside heritage architects Buttress.

Inside, circulation and sightlines have been clarified by reinstating the historic central platform and goods shed layout. Key collections are displayed along