Magna Science Adventure Centre
Encyclopedia
Templeborough
Templeborough is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The area takes its name from the remains of the Roman fort found there which were mistakenly believed to be that of a Roman Temple.-Roman fort:...
district of Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The site is formerly home to the Steel, Peech and Tozer
Steel, Peech and Tozer
Steel, Peech and Tozer was a large steel maker with works situated at Ickles and Templeborough, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.- History :...
steel works (also known as Steelos). In 50 AD it was the site of the Templeborough Roman fort
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
.
The principal exhibits are divided into five pavilions: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Power (the last one is very small). There is also a large outdoor play area and water play area.
The site, often used for staging events, conferences and gigs, won the Enjoy England Gold Award for Business Tourism in 2006 as well as many other awards for the high quality of product.
The creative, development, funding and building process was led by Stephen Feber, who selected the design team, led by Wilkinson Eyre, architects and Event Communications, exhibition designers. Tim Caulton directed exhibition development, introducing spectacular exhibits that bridged science and art, such as Ned Kahn
Ned Kahn
Ned Kahn is an environmental artist and sculptor, famous in particular for museum exhibits he has built for the Exploratorium in San Francisco...
's fire tornado, "The Big Melt" (described below) and works by San Francisco 'artist in electricity' Cork Marcheschi. Magna's exhibitions won the Best Exhibition category at the 2002 Design Week
Design Week
Design Week is a UK-based magazine launched in 1986 for the design industry. The publication was first published in October 1986 by Centaur Communications and currently [2011] published by Centaur Media plc...
Awards.
The Magna Science Adventure Centre won the 2001 RIBA Stirling Prize
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...
for its architects Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Wilkinson Eyre
Wilkinson Eyre Architects is an international architecture firm based in London, England. The firm won the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize two years in a row...
, Mott MacDonald
Mott MacDonald
The Mott MacDonald Group is an employee-owned company management, engineering and development consultancy serving the public and private sectors world-wide...
and Buro Happold
Buro Happold
Buro Happold is a professional services firm providing engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of buildings, infrastructure and the environment, with its head office in Bath, Somerset...
's innovative use of space in the old steelworks. Visitors are often as impressed by the building itself as the attractions contained within it.