At-Bristol
Encyclopedia
At-Bristol is a public science
and technology
"exploration" and education centre and charity in Bristol
, England
.
As a visitor attraction, At-Bristol has hundreds of hands-on exhibits, and a Planetarium with seasonal shows for the over fives, and a 'Little Stars' show for children aged five and under. In addition to trails and activities, they also have changing exhibitions and presenter-led Live Science shows. They have recently started holding special events for under sixes called 'Toddler Takeover'.
At-Bristol also welcomes 40,000 school pupils every year, from pre-school to post-16, for school visits and education workshops. They are also host to the Science Learning Centre South West, and together they offer continuing professional development for teachers and other science communicators.
There are rooms and roof terraces above the exhibition that At-Bristol offers for venue hire, and these have been used for events such as the Sky News media hub for the General Election Debate, as well as other conferences, meetings and events. These spaces are also available for weddings and civil partnerships. At-Bristol also hires out the exhibition floor, Planetarium, Millennium Square and Anchor. Although they are a separate organisation to the Bristol Aquarium, they manage their venue hire spaces.
Another interesting fact is that At-Bristol has its own exhibition workshop on site. This has allowed them to develop an 'Exhibition Services' arm, where they provide exhibitions and/or exhibits for sale or hire, for other science centres, museums and visitor attractions.
At-Bristol also fundraises to run projects, to allow them to do outreach work, taking science out to groups who can't visit At-Bristol. That includes a variety of groups, from low-income schools to hospitals.
At its opening the centre consisted of Explore, which contains features on mechanics
, sound and light, computer science
, space
and the human brain
; Wildwalk, a science centre comprising two artificial rainforests, aquariums
and other ecology
-related exhibits; and an IMAX theatre
.
Wildwalk and the IMAX Theatre
closed at the end of March 2007 due to a lack of funding and government support.
Explore rebranded to At-Bristol in June 2010, and continues to operate, and the Wildwalk building has been converted into an aquarium by Blue Reef Aquarium
, with the IMAX cinema being used to show nature and wildlife films.
and demonstration centre in the former terminus train shed
at Bristol Temple Meads Station (later home to the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
), but moved to a city centre site as part of the regeneration of the historical Floating Harbour
. The project was funded with £44.3 million from the National Lottery
, Millennium Commission
, South West of England Regional Development Agency
, and a further £43.4 million from commercial partners (including a controversial donation from Nestlé
) and Bristol City Council.
The centre is situated on the former Canon's Wharf. Wildwalk and the IMAX
cinema occupied a modified 19th century former lead-works building, and Explore occupies a 1906 railway goods shed
measuring 540 ft by 133 ft (165 m by 41 m). The goods shed was one of the first buildings to use reinforced concrete
and both buildings are Grade II listed buildings. The buildings are located around Millennium Square - also part of the regeneration - and Pero's Bridge
, a footbridge across the harbour which links it to the Arnolfini
art gallery
, Bristol Industrial Museum
and Queen Square.
The centre is popularly known as @Bristol, due to the appearance of its logo. This features the word "at" surrounded by a partial circle, reminiscent of an @ symbol. However, the official spelling is At-Bristol, which is how the name appears on the web site and promotional material.
At-Bristol joined the 10:10
project in 2010 in a bid to reduce their carbon footprint. One year later they announced that they had reduced their carbon emissions (according to 10:10's criteria) by 12%.
At-Bristol is a hands-on science centre, with a number of different areas:
At-Bristol is housed in a former railway goods shed
, which was renovated to house the centre. The renovations included the addition of a large glass atrium to the North of the building, and stainless-steel sphere to the south, housing the planetarium
. The architect behind the renovation was Chris Wilkinson.
An interesting feature of the building is the eutectic tank, which is a 10 metres (32.8 ft) high transparent tube filled with thousands of balls containing eutectic salts. As the temperature within the building rises, the crystals within the balls melt, taking in the heat and cooling the building. As the building cools, the salts crystallise again, giving out heat. In this way, the tank helps keep the temperature within the centre constant.
Wildwalk was an Ecology
Science centre, which contained two artificial rainforests, aquariums
, hands-on exhibits, and live animal exhibits.
The centre comprised a large building (previously a lead-works building) with a ‘living rainforest’ attached to the southern side, and was designed by Michael Hopkins & Partners.
The centre housed a large number of animals, including butterflies, crabs, chameleons, frogs, finches, partridges, piranhas
, seahorses, scorpion
s, snakes, spiders, tarantulas, triggerfish
: in total over 150 species from all major animal groups.
The botanical house was split into two distinct sections: Plants on Land, which traced the development of plants from simple mosses through to complex flowering plants; and Tropical Forests, which showcased plants from tropical continents, including a cycad
which produced a rare, bright red cone 45 cm (17.7 in) tall and 80 cm (31.5 in) in circumference in 2003.
Following Wildwalks closure, all animals and plants were re-homed to other zoos and natural history venues. Additionally, some elements of the exhibits from Wildwalk have been incorporated into Explore.
was the first of the three At-Bristol attractions to open, on 20 April 2000.
Since opening, the theatre received over 1.1 million visitors, and screened 70 films.
The longest running film, and thus that with the highest attendance figures, was Cyberworld 3D
.
Since opening, At-Bristol had an annual operating deficit of around £1.5 million to be filled by fundraising. Though the charity had no problems securing short term funds and grants to cover this when the centre was set up, enabling them to run the three attractions for just over six years, by 2005/2006 most of these had either decreased greatly or ended altogether.
This left only two options: close the whole centre, or close Wildwalk and IMAX, enabling existing funds to be channelled exclusively to Explore. As Explore was most popular with visitors, whereas Wildwalk and the IMAX theatre were most expensive to run, it was decided that the second option was viable, and in this way Explore could become financially viable in the future.
For these reasons, Wildwalk and the IMAX theatre closed for the last time on Saturday, 31 March 2007,
making 45 people redundant.
The Regional Development Agency
worked alongside Bristol City Council to find new uses for the buildings.
The University of the West of England
expressed an interest in taking over the buildings to use for public outreach work with schools.
In April 2008 it was announced that the Wildwalk building was to be converted into an aquarium and that the IMAX will be used to show nature and wildlife films. The £4 million plan by Newquay
firm Blue Reef Aquarium
, intended to provide a site for tropical marine and freshwater creatures, which opened in October 2009.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
"exploration" and education centre and charity in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, 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...
.
As a visitor attraction, At-Bristol has hundreds of hands-on exhibits, and a Planetarium with seasonal shows for the over fives, and a 'Little Stars' show for children aged five and under. In addition to trails and activities, they also have changing exhibitions and presenter-led Live Science shows. They have recently started holding special events for under sixes called 'Toddler Takeover'.
At-Bristol also welcomes 40,000 school pupils every year, from pre-school to post-16, for school visits and education workshops. They are also host to the Science Learning Centre South West, and together they offer continuing professional development for teachers and other science communicators.
There are rooms and roof terraces above the exhibition that At-Bristol offers for venue hire, and these have been used for events such as the Sky News media hub for the General Election Debate, as well as other conferences, meetings and events. These spaces are also available for weddings and civil partnerships. At-Bristol also hires out the exhibition floor, Planetarium, Millennium Square and Anchor. Although they are a separate organisation to the Bristol Aquarium, they manage their venue hire spaces.
Another interesting fact is that At-Bristol has its own exhibition workshop on site. This has allowed them to develop an 'Exhibition Services' arm, where they provide exhibitions and/or exhibits for sale or hire, for other science centres, museums and visitor attractions.
At-Bristol also fundraises to run projects, to allow them to do outreach work, taking science out to groups who can't visit At-Bristol. That includes a variety of groups, from low-income schools to hospitals.
At its opening the centre consisted of Explore, which contains features on mechanics
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
, sound and light, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
and the human brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
; Wildwalk, a science centre comprising two artificial rainforests, aquariums
Public aquarium
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, housing living aquatic species for viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks. Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular...
and other ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
-related exhibits; and an IMAX theatre
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
.
Wildwalk and the IMAX Theatre
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
closed at the end of March 2007 due to a lack of funding and government support.
Explore rebranded to At-Bristol in June 2010, and continues to operate, and the Wildwalk building has been converted into an aquarium by Blue Reef Aquarium
Blue Reef Aquarium
-Portsmouth:Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth is situated on Clarence Esplanade, Southsea. Over 40 living displays are home to various species from tropical sharks and lobsters to seahorses and tropical fish....
, with the IMAX cinema being used to show nature and wildlife films.
History and background
The project opened in 2000 as the successor to the Exploratory, a large science museumMuseum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and demonstration centre in the former terminus train shed
Train shed
A train shed is an adjacent building to a railway station where the tracks and platforms are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof...
at Bristol Temple Meads Station (later home to the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum was a museum in Bristol, United Kingdom exploring the history of the British Empire and the effect of British colonial rule on the rest of the world....
), but moved to a city centre site as part of the regeneration of the historical Floating Harbour
Bristol Harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It has existed since the 13th century but was developed into its current form in the early 19th century by installing lock gates on a tidal stretch of the River Avon in the centre of the city and...
. The project was funded with £44.3 million from the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
, Millennium Commission
Millennium Commission
The Millennium Commission in the United Kingdom was set up to aid communities at the end of the 2nd millennium and the start of the 3rd millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery....
, South West of England Regional Development Agency
Regional Development Agency
In the United Kingdom, a regional development agency is a non-departmental public body established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of one of England's Government Office regions. There is one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England...
, and a further £43.4 million from commercial partners (including a controversial donation from Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
) and Bristol City Council.
The centre is situated on the former Canon's Wharf. Wildwalk and the IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
cinema occupied a modified 19th century former lead-works building, and Explore occupies a 1906 railway goods shed
Goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...
measuring 540 ft by 133 ft (165 m by 41 m). The goods shed was one of the first buildings to use reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
and both buildings are Grade II listed buildings. The buildings are located around Millennium Square - also part of the regeneration - and Pero's Bridge
Pero's Bridge
Pero's Bridge is a pedestrian, bascule bridge at St Augustine's Reach in Bristol Harbour. It links Queen Square and Millennium Square.- Structure :...
, a footbridge across the harbour which links it to the Arnolfini
Arnolfini
The Arnolfini is an arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, live art, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a specialist art bookshop and a café bar. Educational activities are undertaken...
art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, Bristol Industrial Museum
Bristol Industrial Museum
The Bristol Industrial Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour, and which closed in 2006. On display were items from Bristol's industrial past – including aviation, car and bus manufacture, and printing – and exhibits documenting Bristol's...
and Queen Square.
The centre is popularly known as @Bristol, due to the appearance of its logo. This features the word "at" surrounded by a partial circle, reminiscent of an @ symbol. However, the official spelling is At-Bristol, which is how the name appears on the web site and promotional material.
At-Bristol joined the 10:10
10:10
Drono Acharya composed the film's songs and Ritam Sen, Sandip Chakrabarty, Padmanabha Dasgupta, Rana Basu Thakur and Rangeet wrote the lyrics.-External links:* IMDB Title* * *...
project in 2010 in a bid to reduce their carbon footprint. One year later they announced that they had reduced their carbon emissions (according to 10:10's criteria) by 12%.
At-Bristol
- All About Us - This opened in Spring 2011 and has 50 interactive exhibits which allow visitors to discover how amazing the human body is.
- Real Brain - As part of the All About Us exhibition, At-Bristol has an exhibit that displays a real human brain. Real Brain has been produced to give visitors an understanding of medical science research.
- Animate It! - this exhibition was developed with Aardman Animations. Visitors can make their own animated films (2D and 3D), see a film set from Wallace & Gromit's 'A Matter of Loaf and Death', or make Morph spin in a Praxinoscope.
- Flight zone - Understand more about what factors effect flight and build your own flying object. Includes the Bernoulli Blower.
- All About Our World - Allows visitor to discover the world around us through investigation. Includes Icy Bodies, Giant Bubbles and the Turbulent Orb.
- The Planetarium - seasonal presenter-led star shows for over fives, and 'Little Stars' show for fives and under
- Tiny Explorers - Exhibition areas for the under eights, these include storytelling and dress up. Currently they have Jet, set go! and Fossils and Funnybones
- Investigate - Lots of mini science experiments
- Move It - The first large area when entering the museum, Move It deals with forces ( in the exhibit Naturally Newton) and flightFlightFlight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....
(Dreams of Flight). - Your Amazing Brain – The second large section on the ground floor, this area deals with the human brainHuman brainThe human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
, in particular optical illusions and memoryMemoryIn psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
. - Curiosity Zone – Incorporating most of the upper level, this area deals with soundSoundSound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
, light, forceForceIn physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity , i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform...
, magnets, and also includes a mock television studioTelevision studioA television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
. - Space – This area includes a small exhibit about space travel, and the large Planetarium, in which 4-6 demonstrations are given daily.
- Live Science Zone – Visitors can watch live shows, join in debates, try the hands-on exploration stations or keep updated in news and views.
At-Bristol is housed in a former railway goods shed
Goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...
, which was renovated to house the centre. The renovations included the addition of a large glass atrium to the North of the building, and stainless-steel sphere to the south, housing the planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
. The architect behind the renovation was Chris Wilkinson.
An interesting feature of the building is the eutectic tank, which is a 10 metres (32.8 ft) high transparent tube filled with thousands of balls containing eutectic salts. As the temperature within the building rises, the crystals within the balls melt, taking in the heat and cooling the building. As the building cools, the salts crystallise again, giving out heat. In this way, the tank helps keep the temperature within the centre constant.
Wildwalk-At-Bristol
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
Science centre, which contained two artificial rainforests, aquariums
Public aquarium
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, housing living aquatic species for viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks. Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular...
, hands-on exhibits, and live animal exhibits.
The centre comprised a large building (previously a lead-works building) with a ‘living rainforest’ attached to the southern side, and was designed by Michael Hopkins & Partners.
The centre housed a large number of animals, including butterflies, crabs, chameleons, frogs, finches, partridges, piranhas
Piranhas
Piranhas is a historic city and municipality in the western of the State of Alagoas, in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Located on the bank of the São Francisco River, just at the border with the State of Sergipe, Piranhas was founded in 1891 and originally named Floriano Peixoto...
, seahorses, scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s, snakes, spiders, tarantulas, triggerfish
Triggerfish
Triggerfishes are about 40 species of often brightly colored fishes of the family Balistidae. Often marked by lines and spots, they inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, with the greatest species richness in the Indo-Pacific...
: in total over 150 species from all major animal groups.
The botanical house was split into two distinct sections: Plants on Land, which traced the development of plants from simple mosses through to complex flowering plants; and Tropical Forests, which showcased plants from tropical continents, including a cycad
Cycad
Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
which produced a rare, bright red cone 45 cm (17.7 in) tall and 80 cm (31.5 in) in circumference in 2003.
Following Wildwalks closure, all animals and plants were re-homed to other zoos and natural history venues. Additionally, some elements of the exhibits from Wildwalk have been incorporated into Explore.
IMAX-At-Bristol
Housed in the same building as Wildwalk, the IMAX theatreIMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
was the first of the three At-Bristol attractions to open, on 20 April 2000.
Since opening, the theatre received over 1.1 million visitors, and screened 70 films.
The longest running film, and thus that with the highest attendance figures, was Cyberworld 3D
Cyberworld
CyberWorld is a 2000 3-D comedy film shown in IMAX. Several segments originally filmed in 2-D animation are showcased as converted to 3-D format.-Segments:* The "Homer³" segment from The Simpsons, episode "Treehouse of Horror VI"...
.
Closure of Wildwalk and IMAX
This left only two options: close the whole centre, or close Wildwalk and IMAX, enabling existing funds to be channelled exclusively to Explore. As Explore was most popular with visitors, whereas Wildwalk and the IMAX theatre were most expensive to run, it was decided that the second option was viable, and in this way Explore could become financially viable in the future.
For these reasons, Wildwalk and the IMAX theatre closed for the last time on Saturday, 31 March 2007,
making 45 people redundant.
The Regional Development Agency
Regional Development Agency
In the United Kingdom, a regional development agency is a non-departmental public body established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of one of England's Government Office regions. There is one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England...
worked alongside Bristol City Council to find new uses for the buildings.
The University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
expressed an interest in taking over the buildings to use for public outreach work with schools.
In April 2008 it was announced that the Wildwalk building was to be converted into an aquarium and that the IMAX will be used to show nature and wildlife films. The £4 million plan by Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
firm Blue Reef Aquarium
Blue Reef Aquarium
-Portsmouth:Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth is situated on Clarence Esplanade, Southsea. Over 40 living displays are home to various species from tropical sharks and lobsters to seahorses and tropical fish....
, intended to provide a site for tropical marine and freshwater creatures, which opened in October 2009.
External links
- Official At-Bristol Site
- The Exploratory (archive site)
- Director of At-Bristol's response to a critical article in Nature (original article is only available on pay or subscription)