National Science and Media Museum gets £3m lottery grant

The National Science and Media Museum will have a ‘once-in-a-generation’ revamp ahead of Bradford City of Culture in 2025.

Huge changes, to be completed by December 2024, including two new galleries, a new passenger lift and improvements to the main entrance, will be funded through a £6m capital project called ‘Sound and Vision’. The museum will be closed from June 2023 through to the summer of 2024 for the work to be carried out.

The National Science and Media Museum is set to close for a year from June 2023 (Image: Newsquest)

The project has successfully secured a £3.08m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the work.

During the museum’s closure, the site’s Pictureville Cinema and Bar will remain open seven days a week.

The existing displays on levels three and five of the museum are now closed, with its exhibits moving into collection stores.

Wonderlab, the Kodak Gallery, Games Lounge and temporary exhibition space will remain open until the summer, with a public programme culminating in Bradford Science Festival from May 23 to June 4.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, director of the National Science and Media Museum, said: “We are thrilled that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded us this significant investment to realise our ambition to completely transform our visitor offer both in terms of content and accessibility.

“By working collaboratively with our local audiences, our new galleries will connect our community to our world-class collections and truly reflect that Bradford is one of the UK’s most diverse and fastest-growing cities.”

The development will involve the complete remodelling of two floors of the building, opening up unused spaces and reimagining the display and interpretation of the core collections.

An artist's impression of what the new-look galleries at the museum will look like (Image: National Science and Media Museum)

Helen Featherstone, from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Bradford is one of the most exciting cities in not only the North of England, but the whole of the UK.

“There is a real buzz across the city, and the Sound and Vision project at the National Science and Media Museum is sure to be one of the star attractions as Bradford picks up the baton of City of Culture.

“We’re thrilled that we are supporting Sound and Vision and we cannot wait to see the project progress with the help of communities across Bradford.

“We are sure that many National Lottery players will enjoy the new galleries when they are revealed, and they should be proud to know that they wouldn’t have been made possible without the money they have raised.”