Magna Science Adventure Centre is an educational visitor attraction, appealing primarily to children, located in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

's former Templeborough steelworks.

Location

The site used to be home to the Steel, Peech and Tozer steel works (also known as Steelos). In 50 AD it was the site of the Templeborough Roman

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. The principal exhibits are divided into four ''pavilions'': Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. There is also an outdoor Sci-Tek play area, and Aqua-Tek water play area. The 1/3 mile long site is often used for staging events, conferences and performances. It won the Enjoy England Gold Award for Business Tourism in 2006.

Development

The development, funding and building process was led by Stephen Feber, who selected the design team, led by architects

WilkinsonEyre WilkinsonEyre is an international architecture practice based in London, England. In 1983 Chris Wilkinson (architect), Chris Wilkinson founded Chris Wilkinson Architects, he partnered with Jim Eyre (architect), Jim Eyre in 1987 and the practice w ...

and exhibition designers

Event Communications Event Communications, or Event, is one of Europe's longest-established and largest museum and visitor attraction design firms; it is headquartered in London. History The firm was founded in 1986 by businesswoman Celestine ("Cel") Phelan and des ...

. Tim Caulton directed exhibition development. Magna's exhibitions won the Best Exhibition category at the 2002

Design Week ''Design Week'' is a UK-based website, formerly a magazine for the design industry. It was first published in October 1986 by Centaur Communications. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations primary circulation for 2007 was 8,074. In 2011, ...

Awards. The Centre won the 2001

RIBA Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

for its architects

Wilkinson Eyre Architects WilkinsonEyre is an international architecture practice based in London, England. In 1983 Chris Wilkinson founded Chris Wilkinson Architects, he partnered with Jim Eyre in 1987 and the practice was renamed WilkinsonEyre in 1999. The practice ha ...

Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs 16,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. It was established in 1989 by the merger of M ...

and

Buro Happold Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...

's use of space in the old steelworks.

''The Big Melt''

Every hour, Magna holds a display called "The Big Melt". Its purpose is to demonstrate how steel was made in an

electric arc furnace An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a furnace that heats material by means of an electric arc. Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one-tonne capacity (used in foundries for producing cast iron products) up to ab ...

until the steelworks closed in 1993. A furnace is imitated with fog, spark, flame and smoke machines, loudspeakers, lights, and blasts of rapidly burning propane which are ignited at appropriate points in the show. The show can be repeated up to four times an hour, but, in practice, it is usually run once an hour or twice an hour if visitor numbers are very high.

Real Ale Festival

Since 2011 the centre has been home to the annual

Rotherham Real Ale and Music Festival The Rotherham Real Ale and Music Festival (formerly the Oakwood Real Ale and Music Festival) is an annual real ale festival that takes place in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The event takes place annually at the Magna Centre, Rotherham a former ...

. The festival was previously held at Oakwood Technology College. Money raised from the festival is donated to local charities.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Rotherham Tourist attractions in Rotherham Science centres in England Museums in South Yorkshire Industry museums in England