The new facility which houses 300,000 historic objects, including objects from Stephen Hawking’s office, is now open for public tours.
The Science Museum Group has publicly opened the Hawking Building, a facility in which more than 300,000 historic objects have been carefully studied, digitised and moved.
The new purpose-built building at the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire was formerly known as The National Collections Centre (NCC) during its creation which began in 2019.
The facility, which is equivalent in size to 600 double decker buses, has been inaugurated as the Hawking Building, in “recognition of the lasting impact of Professor Stephen Hawking’s scientific research and public engagement, and his long-standing relationship with the Science Museum Group”, it said.
The building is now open for guided tours, school and research visits, and the first behind-the-scenes public tours of the building begin today.
Tours, which need to be booked in advance, have now opened for 2025 and will be led by an expert guide.Visitors will see objects include the Spacelab 2 X-ray telescope carried into orbit by the US Space Shuttle Challenger and a Leyland Titan double-decker bus. Also available to view will be objects from Stephen Hawking’s office, and a NASA Flight Simulator chair used to train astronauts at the Johnson Space Center.
Gallery
View of the shelving in the Hawking Building at the Science and Innovation Park (c) Science Museum Group
View of the racking in the Hawking Building at the Science and Innovation Park (c) Science Museum Group
View of the grid in the Hawking Building at the Science and Innovation Park (c) Science Museum Group
Matt Moore, Tim Hawking, Sir Ian Blatchford, and Sian Williams at the opening of the Hawking Building (c) Science Museum Group
In 2021 the contents of Hawking’s Cambridge University office were acquired by the Science Museum Group through the UK Government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme. More than 1,000 objects, including his communication and mobility equipment, have since been studied and cared for in the Hawking Building.
Sir Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group, said: “Having been inspired at the Science Museum as a child, Stephen became a great friend to the Science Museum Group and this is a fitting way to celebrate that life-long relationship and our acquisition of the extraordinary items from his office that will inspire others for generations to come.”
Tim Hawking, Stephen’s son, added: ‘As a family, we are delighted that the Science Museum has chosen to name this magnificent new facility the Hawking building. We are so grateful to the Science Museum Group for taking such good care of the Stephen Hawking collection and ensuring that his work and legacy as a scientist, disability advocate and technology pioneer will be accessible to visitors to their museums nationwide.”
