Bradford’s National Science and Media Museum to close for refurbishment

The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford has announced details of a £6m refurbishment project that will see it closed to the public for a year from June.

The “radical, once-in-a-generation” work will create two new "object-rich" galleries that will draw on the museum's diverse collection of 3.2 million objects.

Exhibits at the venue, which is part of the Science Museum group, range from the first photographic negative to the original puppet of Zippy from the 1970s kids TV show, Rainbow.

National Science and Media Museum director Jo Quinton-Tulloch said: “It is a fantastic moment for the museum. We are going to be transforming the visitor offer and it will be here for decades to come."

The refurbishment will remodel two floors and open up unused spaces in order to reimagine “the display and interpretation of the core collections”.

Quinton-Tulloch added that the changes, which will also include a new liftand improvements to the entrance, will allow the museum to “welcome many more visitors”.

Work will begin from February, prior to the closure, with displays on levels three and five of the building being gradually removed.