Inside the Science Museum's new interactive Wonderlab gallery

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The Science Museum in London has opened an interactive gallery with an innovative design that seeks to change the way visitors look at science.

Designed by London-based architects Muf, Wonderlab is loosely themed around the idea of a playground, with giant slides and hands-on science games.

Among the 50 different exhibits within Wonderlab are an eight-metre high replica of the solar system, a 120-seat theatre and a Chemistry Bar, where museum staff will be "serving up" made-to-order chemical concoctions.

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To create the space, the Muf team took over the 25,000 sq ft Statoil Gallery and stripped away the existing partitions to create an immersive open space.

Wonderlab is divided into seven zones based on scientific concepts, including Light, Sound and Forces, but Muf directors Katherine Clarke and Liza Fior stress that the team deliberately avoided constructing a set route for visitors to navigate.

Instead, they say the layout of the exhibition encourages visitors "to roam guided by what catches their eye, rather than a pre-determined route and narrative". The open-plan design is intended to not only stimulate the imagination, but also encourage people to "make connections between the different scientific phenomena" on show.

Creativity and innovation are the cornerstones of the way the new gallery is presented, with eye-catching features such as an oak tree trunk studded with magnets.

Each zone "is marked by an appropriate hanging object", Dezeen reports. "Sound features a brass instrument and Materials is marked by a blown-glass orb."

Wonderlab cost £6m to construct, and is the first of several planned special galleries. Future exhibits are set to be curated by other leading architecture firms, such as Zaha Hadid Architects and Wilkinson Eyre.