The winning team selected for the estimated 210,000 contract will create a new interactive Wonderlab gallery occupying the location of the museums current first floor Power Up exhibition.The design team will also carry out a fitout relocating Power Up to the second floor of the museum which recently opened a new temporary exhibitions gallery by Carmody Groarke.The 3.5 million-to-4.5 million project, planned to complete in 2028, follows the creation of similar Wonderlab spaces at the Science Museum in London, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, and the National Railway Museum in York.AdvertisementAccording to the brief: The Science Museum Groups Wonderlab galleries are each an awe-inspiring spectacle, filled with interactive exhibits and immersive experiences aimed to engage children and their accompanying adults.Visitors to Wonderlab encounter powerful and meaningful learning experiences - they develop new skills, are challenged in their perceptions and grow in confidence to talk about science and their relationship to it.After visiting our Wonderlab galleries, we want visitors to perceive the world around them differently and leave confident to explore the world around them through creative problem solving and experimenting.The city centre museum which is part of the London-based Science Museum Group is partially located within the worlds oldest surviving railway station complex known as Manchester Liverpool Road. The museum has occupied a series of Grade I-listed warehouses and the former station since 1983.The latest procurement comes 10 years after Carmody Groarke won a competition for a new 4 million outstanding architectural space for temporary exhibitions within railway arches and the vaults of an 1830 warehouse at the museum site.AdvertisementLast year, the museum launched a search for an architect to transform part of a Grade I-listed warehouse into a new commercial space.Round one bids for the latest commission will be evaluated 50 per cent on experience, 30 per cent on methodology and 20 per cent on sustainability. Stage two bids will be evaluated 75 per cent on quality and 25 per cent on price.Applicants must hold employers liability insurance of 10 million, public liability insurance of 10 million and professional indemnity insurance of 5 million.Competition detailsProject title SIM Architect and Lead Designer for Wonderlab and Power UpClientContract value 3.5 million-to-4.5 millionFirst round deadline 5pm, 23 March 2025Restrictions TbcMore information https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006722-2025