Lund Science Museum

Lund Science Center is a museum set to promote general interest in natural science and research in an engaging and playful way and to showcase existing and future technologies supporting sustainable and climate-friendly solutions. The Science Center will be constructed in wood with a roof covered entirely in solar cells, which generate enough electricity to cover the museum’s needs. Organized around a green circular science park, Lund Science Museum both explores and showcases the interconnected dependencies between inside and outside, between building and nature.

The museum is uniquely situated in the middle of the new urban district Science Village Scandinavia between the high-tech institutions MAX IV and ESS – the world’s most powerful and advanced research facilities within neutron and X-ray research.

The Science Museum is located at the very heart of Science Village Scandinavia along a central green axis connecting parks to the north and the south. At the museum, nature has a central place in the middle of the building in form of a public science park connected to the city's green axis where natural science can be experienced and showcased in a scale of 1:1. Placing the planned green connection at the center of the museum invites the public inside the building and dissolves the boundary between inside and outside.

The well-defined circular atrium is an attraction in its own right. The urban space acts as a corridor for flora and fauna, boosting biodiversity, and the gently sloping terrain further acts as a water reservoir and an overflow canal in case of extreme rainfall.

The curved roof is covered by a 1,600-m2 energy park producing up to 1.6 million kWh a year: enough to cover the building’s energy use. The roof also serves as a rooftop patio and viewing platform.

The Science Museum will be constructed entirely of cross-laminated timber walls, decks, beams and columns. Using wood for the loadbearing structures, interior and facades reduces the building’s carbon footprint by 80% compared to a building in concrete and steel. The wooden structure will be visible throughout the building, creating a warm atmosphere and tactile quality. The facades will primarily be made of heat-treated wooden panels. The wooden facade slats give the building a translucent character, conveying the indoor activities to the surrounding urban spaces with a warm glow.