Situated on a triangular site within Bristol’s Harbourside leisure quarter, this museum combines an IMAX cinema, an electronic zoo and a tropical house. Developed with Millennium Commission support, the project forms part of the regeneration of former docklands close to the city centre.

At the apex of the site, the cylindrical brick drum of the IMAX cinema creates a bold landmark. From here, the building fans out to connect with the restored 19th-century leadworks now housing a café and shop with offices above, anchoring the scheme in its historic context. 

A narrow glazed atrium separates the cinema from the rest of the building with a five-storey circulation spine leading to a four-storey brick ‘black box’ containing two floors of interactive multimedia exhibits for the electronic zoo, with education spaces above.

Beyond this, a transparent tent-like roof shelters the tropical house, suspended from two raking steel masts to create an expansive, light-filled environment. The composition concludes with a smaller tensile structure forming the foyer, bridging between the tropical house and the leadworks, with entrances at both ends to connect seamlessly with the surrounding public realm.