Inspire Discovery Centre, Norwich

Visit Date: 21 February 2008

Admission Price: At time of visit, the charges were as follow:
Adult - £4.50
Concessions - £4.00
Saver - £13.00 (defined as 2 adults and 2 children)

Please check to see whether these charges have since been revised.

Ownership: The Science Projects Foundation (in 2008)

Tel. Number: 01603 612612

Website: http://www.inspirediscoverycentre.com/index.html

Walkthrough: Housed in a former church, Inspire’s demographic is immediately apparent as the floor is covered in blue rubber matting, with a variety of books and toys at the side of the entrance, along with the refreshments area on the ground floor and the upstairs area for school groups. The main space of the building houses hands-on science exhibits, with individual panels that explain the science behind each display in an accessible way. Going around the space, these exhibits included spring-activated siege catapults, clockwork mechanisms, mirror displays, a ball chute and an interactive table area that tests a visitor’s hearing, reaction speed and ability to count. There is also a covered area where the site’s light-related exhibits are displayed. A large part of the centre was taken up by a temporary exhibition on flying, entitled Jet Set Go. This boasted features where visitors can stamp passport booklets, move objects through a conveyor belt and work an air traffic control display. This has further interactive buttons as well as a communicative link to the cockpit of the plane structure, which is split into the front area and the back area with a large space in between. Whilst the front area looked at the technical aspects of flying a plane, the back part of the plane was more of a cushioned reading/activity area.

Highlights:

- Interesting location.
- Fun interactives.

Lowlights:

- Jet Set Go didn't interpret much of the airline-based activities.
- Some additional interactives could have been fitted in.

Access: Located north of the river (Wensum), the site isn’t immediately easy to get to on account of the one-way road system, although it isn’t very far from the city centre either. There aren’t bus stops nearby and the parking is on-street with pay & display spaces nearby. The exhibits are all on the ground floor, although there is wheelchair access for the education space on the first floor.

Overall Impression: Whilst the temporary exhibition took up more space than it probably warranted, the Inspire Discovery Centre is a welcoming venue that allows children to get to grips with science. The fact that it isn’t a large venue limits the extent of what the site can offer, but it’s a good regional science-based attraction.