AwardedAwarded 24 August 2026

Wonderlab Interactive Exhibit Makers (Group 1), The Science and Industry Museum

Science Museum Group · Central government

In brief

Science Museum Group awarded leisure and events work to Hüttinger Interactive Exhibitions on 24 August 2026.

The notice gives a value of £425,000 excluding VAT.

The contract runs for 2 years, starting 11 August 2026.

It is split into 5 lots, so a supplier can bid for part of the work.

The buyer says it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.

Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.

What the notice says

The Science and Industry Museum’s new Wonderlab gallery will be a vibrant, awe-inspiring spectacle at the heart of the world’s first industrial city. Dynamic, social and multisensory, it will celebrate the wonder of science and invite everyone to unleash their inner inventor. Drawing on Manchester’s unparalleled heritage of innovation, the gallery will excite and challenge young minds to help inspire the next generation of scientists and inventors. Children and their accompanying adults will be encouraged to ‘Think and act like an inventor’, through curious, fun and memorable interactive experiences and a multifaceted, joyful and stimulating live programme. They will deepen their…Read the full description
The Science and Industry Museum’s new Wonderlab gallery will be a vibrant, awe-inspiring spectacle at the heart of the world’s first industrial city. Dynamic, social and multisensory, it will celebrate the wonder of science and invite everyone to unleash their inner inventor. Drawing on Manchester’s unparalleled heritage of innovation, the gallery will excite and challenge young minds to help inspire the next generation of scientists and inventors. Children and their accompanying adults will be encouraged to ‘Think and act like an inventor’, through curious, fun and memorable interactive experiences and a multifaceted, joyful and stimulating live programme. They will deepen their understanding of science phenomena, delight in tinkering and testing, develop new and existing skills and grow in confidence to question and explore. As a core permanent gallery offer, the new space will be an integral part of the Science and Industry Museum’s vision and Masterplan. The gallery floor and purpose-built spaces for live programme will create welcoming, playful and inspiring environment, creating the perfect backdrop for visitors to imagine, investigate and reflect. This tender invites suppliers to bid for Wonderlab’s Group 1 interactives, informally described as the “Hero exhibits”. These interactive exhibits will provide moments of joy, fun, surprise and wonder at regular intervals throughout the visitor journey. They will offer communal ‘wow’ moments, where large groups can engage and interact, while being surprised and impressed by the scale, novelty and working of the interactive. For more information, please see the tender documents.

Lots

LotTradeValue
Manchester Machine
11 August 2026 to 10 August 2028
What this lot covers

The Manchester Machine will be a spectacular feature where visitors will be mesmerised and go home talking about it. It will be a large scale interactive in which many visitors can interact at multiple points (think hand cranks, levers, pulleys) each creating its own immediate effect, providing instant gratification. Balls will roll, tracks will switch direction, pulleys will rotate, flaps will open and pistons will rise and fall, creating an ever-moving spectacle of engineering, inspired by Manchester’s history of innovation.

Leisure, culture and events£180,000
Digital Loom
11 August 2026 to 10 August 2028
What this lot covers

This exhibit will be visually striking and will catch visitors’ eye as they enter the gallery. The beautiful projection will grab their attention with its attractive, graphic presence.

Leisure, culture and events£50,000
Loco Race
11 August 2026 to 10 August 2028
What this lot covers

This exhibit will be visually striking from a distance, as the racing lines sweep and curve around the historic pillars, creating a sense of movement, as well as connecting visitors to the beautiful architecture of the gallery.

Leisure, culture and events£50,000
Cogs Pulleys Levers
11 August 2026 to 10 August 2028
What this lot covers

Visitors explore a range of loose parts to create moving mechanisms using cogs, pulleys and levers.

Leisure, culture and events£25,000
Whirlwind Room
11 August 2026 to 10 August 2028
What this lot covers

Multiple visitors enter a space where air jets blow and visitors can use scarves or other objects to explore the impact and power of the air jets.

Leisure, culture and events£120,000

Who won

WinnerLotValueDates
Hüttinger Interactive Exhibitions
2 bids received
Manchester Machine£180,000
Awarded 3 August 2026
31 August 2026 to 30 August 2028
Hüttinger Interactive Exhibitions
6 bids received
Digital Loom£50,000
Awarded 3 August 2026
31 August 2026 to 30 August 2028
Hüttinger Interactive Exhibitions
2 bids received
Loco Race£48,000
Awarded 3 August 2026
31 August 2026 to 30 August 2028
Hüttinger Interactive Exhibitions
2 bids received
Cogs Pulleys Levers£35,000
Awarded 3 August 2026
31 August 2026 to 30 August 2028
Hüttinger Interactive Exhibitions
3 bids received
Whirlwind Room£120,000
Awarded 3 August 2026
31 August 2026 to 30 August 2028

Values as the award notice gives them, excluding VAT where stated.

Timeline

  1. Tender notice · UK4, notice 057651-2026
  2. Tender notice · UK4, notice 062156-2026
  3. Contract award notice · UK6, notice 073108-2026
  4. Contract details notice · UK7, notice 080329-2026

Last time this was bought

Wonderlab Gallery 2D Graphic Designer at Science and Industry Museum

Awarded
27 July 2026
Value
Not stated, or split across lots
Contract ends
31 August 2028

Matched on Science Museum Group, the type of work and the title. Check the notice to be sure.

About the buyer

Science Museum GroupLast 12 months

Procurements

90

Awards

48

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  5. NWB - Leisure Operator

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    Value not stated

From notice 057651-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 18 June 2026, last updated 24 August 2026. We last checked for changes on 28 September 2026.