Museum of Science and Industry

The work on the Main Building marks the first phase of the Museum’s ambitious Revolution MOSI development plans, designed to transform it into a truly world-class cultural attraction.

Out go the internal ramps, which take up more than 1,000 m2 of space, the tiny lifts and the cramped toilets. And in their place come bigger, brighter, more visitor-friendly areas, which make better use of the available space inside the 130-year-old warehouse.

A stunning new gallery on the ground floor, Revolution Manchester, will be the showpiece of the redeveloped Main Building, displaying iconic objects that tell the story of the city.  

Another big change will be the new entrance. No more wandering through the café to get into the Main Building! Instead, visitors will enter straight into an orientation area, which will give them all the information they need to plan their day and find their way around the site.

As well as these new spaces, there will be major improvements to existing facilities. The popular, hands-on Xperiment gallery is expanding and moving to a new home on the first floor, along with a new, bigger café.  This leaves the top floor free for self-contained learning and conferencing spaces. These will have their own entrances so that school parties and corporate guests don’t need to go through the Museum to get to where they need to be.

Toilets, lockers, lifts and picnic areas are also getting a makeover, and there will be a brand new coffee shop and gift shop on the ground floor.

For details of the scheduled reopening dates for all the various elements of Main Building, click here.