Universeum is growing
Now Universeum is expanding, to give more value to more people. Join us on our journey to become a next-generation science centre!
Sustainable growth.
A bigger building with new, advanced content provides us with the conditions to meet the needs of society. We can support the education system and enhance the skills supply for a sustainable future.
Major investment for the future
Universeum’s expansion includes a major investment in digitalisation through visualisation and AI, a stronger focus on sustainable development and new content in the areas of technology and mathematics. When it has been completed, Universeum will be an even more powerful arena for education and popular education in the fields of science, technology, mathematics and sustainable development.
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We will create more and better areas for students, teachers and student teachers, and in doing so enhance our offering and our methodology. Universeum is already a learning resource in the fields of science, technology and mathematics, but we can increase both our capacity and our quality. Our learning environments must operate in a compensatory way and develop everyone’s competences, abilities and skills.
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A spherical dome on our roof with absolutely world-class visualisation technology. The visualisation dome will become a shared vehicle for 150 visitors on a voyage into genuine research data. The dome enables us to go on expeditions out into the universe, into the microcosmos and back into history in order to understand how the world works. Technology and productions are being made possible through an anniversary donation from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to five Swedish centres of science.
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In an extension we will be building a public visualisation lab that will be unique in the world, giving people access to scientific data using the very latest visualisation technology. You create your own expeditions here in the data, as a research explorer in search of questions and answers about, for example, space, the climate or urban development. The lab has been developed in close collaboration with Visualisation Centre C and with support from the Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Communication.
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We will invest in the infrastructure so that we can meet a larger, more multifaceted audience. We need new premises for meetings and events, greater accessibility, lifts with higher capacity, better service areas and smarter logistics. The aim of this is that everyone who visits us will have an outstanding experience – and that visitor numbers will increase.
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In our existing learning environments, we will strengthen our content in the areas of science and sustainable development. In the heart of Gothenburg, you will find all of Sweden, large oceans of the world and a piece of the Amazon rainforest. We will make the most of this and create experiences that go even further to increase knowledge, boost creativity and activate critical thinking.
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The UN has decided to focus on the sea and sustainability in 2021-2030. This decade of marine research aims to improve the health of the world’s oceans and strengthen the conditions for the sustainable development of seas and coastlines. At Universeum, we will develop our aquatic environments to contribute to increased knowledge and increased engagement in sustainable marine environments.
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We will strengthen our content in technology and mathematics. Everything from algorithms and robots to the mathematics behind the technology should be explored at Universeum.
Because we can do more. And we must do more to meet the needs of society. The education system, businesses, the city and the region – everyone needs more from us. More space and more content. How does AI work, why can the pH level not change in the oceans, exactly how worrying is it that the number of insects is falling, why are gravitational waves important for science and is the earth really the only place where we can live?
At Universeum, such questions must be asked and the answers explored. This is important if we are to understand our age, to seize the new technology and realise how beautiful yet at the same time how fragile our planet is. But the rapid pace of development and new discoveries demand increased knowledge. Good education and accessible adult education are needed.
Universeum needs to expand and replenish. To grow in order to step up to the next level.
Universeum currently welcomes about 600,000 visitors a year, around 75,000 of them teachers and students who use Universeum as a learning resource. With new areas and new content, we can attract more and aim for 700,000 visitors every year.
This will make a real difference.
Advanced construction.
The extension features a host of geometric shapes. The dome will be spherical with triangular features (six metres long and eight metres high!). The vertical tower reaches for the heavens while the horizontal bridge hovers in the air.
Sustainable construction in wood
The construction of Universeum started in 1999. It is a climate-smart building in large sections made of wood, constructed against the mountain at Korsvägen with visible cliffs inside its walls and an impressive view of Gothenburg. The vast roof over the rainforest is perfectly positioned to face the sun in order to harvest solar energy all year round. The building also uses the forces of nature for its ventilation through natural draughts. Large parts of it can be dismantled and reused.
When Universeum opened in 2001, it was the biggest public building with a bearing wooden structure. We are now continuing to build on this. Wood, which is increasingly being recognised as the most sustainable building material, will be combined with recycled panes of glass from our own or other buildings. And, just as in 1999, the name of the architect is Gert Wingårdh.
The extension will be visible from several principle angles. It challenges while at the same time giving something back to the city. With the tower and bridge facing south and the large sphere hovering at the very top, along with the groundbreaking technology that the extension will house, Universeum is creating a new landmark – not only in Gothenburg, but also in Sweden.
In the year that Universeum was completed, it was voted the most popular contemporary building in Sweden. It was also awarded Träpriset (Architecture in Wood Prize) in 2004.
We are part of Universeum’s journey into the future and the next-generation science centre.
More projects for the future.
Universeum is also developing and being developed here and now. Feel free to read about our school development projects Ungas kraft och Framtidsambassadörer which we are running together with Region Gothenburg and Göteborgs grundskoleförvaltning. About the school projects DigIt and Framtida transporter where we are collaborating with businesses, academia and the general public. And about EU projects in which we are involved, such as LoV-IoT and InnoForESt.