The Museum of Science and Industry has released a collection of CGI images showing what the Power Hall: The Law Family Gallery will look like following its restoration.

With three main themes—Making More, Powering Lives, and Connecting Places—the Power Hall’s layout will guide visitors as they learn how the Industrial Revolution used steam engines, from how they boosted productivity in factories and mills to the story of how engines played their part in the growing of the modern electricity network.

The connecting places theme covers how steam locomotives transported people and goods across the country, linking communities and local economies.

The Museum of Science and Industry and architect Carmody Groake planned the redesigned layout of the Power Hall, sitting at the core of the museum. While Studio MUTT created images of the planned finished design.

The restoration of the Power Hall is part of a bigger multi-million-pound project aimed at opening up spaces and preserving the historic buildings of the museum.

So far, during its six years of closure, the hall has seen restoration work undertaken on the walls, new windows and doors fitted, and installation of new timbers to the roof, along with repairs to make it watertight.

Accessible galleries have also been installed within the hall, aiming to enhance the visitor experience and add more space to view the artefacts on display. This has also enabled the museum to expand upon the story between man and engine, which was conceived in Manchester, and the legacy it has left through to the present day.

There will also be sensory experiences, including sounds and smells, accompanying some of the visual displays to provoke one’s senses and give a flavour of what Manchester was like in the industrial age. All the artefacts that were on display in 2019 are still in the museum, with some moved to new locations within the hall.

The official opening date of the Power Hall will be announced at a later date.

“Power Hall: The Law Family Gallery will be a must-see Manchester experience – a living gallery that showcases a unique collection of historic 19th and early 20th century working engines to tell the story of Manchester as an epicentre for the engine-driven ideas and industry that shaped the world as we know it today.

Our most iconic objects will be available to explore like never before as we bring to life the people behind the power through stories of the engineers, makers and technicians who use their skills and senses to create and care for engines, both today and in the past.”

Kate Chatfield, Interpretation and Content Manager at the Science and Industry Museum