SCIENCE CENTRES
they wanted to operate: highly interactive children’s science centres. “There’s no such thing as not being allowed to touch,” says Boris. “You have to touch and try each exhibit to see how it works. We also have a lot of theming, which isn’t usual in classic science centres.” “Many people in the industry don’t think edutainment exists, but I firmly believe in doing things in an entertain- ing way [while also being able to] teach, explore and explain,” says Waschk.
“That’s our mission. And no one’s ever done a chain of educational science attractions for children before – which is hard to believe, as it makes so much sense, right?” The strategy for achieving this goal is surprisingly simple: expand opportunisti- cally with one or two sites a year (both acquisitions and new developments) and invest in content; then frequently renew it by moving it through the venues, keeping the offer fresh and footfall high. According to Waschk, a key problem with publicly funded science centres is the lack of capital available to revitalise the attraction once it becomes tired: “The idea behind them isn’t really economic. You raise the money and get the exhibi- tion as good as you can, but we all know that doesn’t take you further than three or four years before you need a major reinvestment. Investing in content, then rotating it through the venues, was the perfect synergy between Mike and me.” The idea is that while Blueprint will
36
Odysseum in Cologne is an 8,000sq m adventure-based science centre with interactive exhibits in differently themed areas
concentrate on operations, AWC will source and supply the additional content. The consulting and development com- pany has already bought a huge amount of exhibits stock from insolvent operators – “we have two warehouses full,” says Waschk. They hired Brit Adam Sanders, previously business development man- ager for Natural History Museum’s planning and design consulting depart- ment, to collate it. “He’s reorganising the stock into topics, looking into how it can be structured for travelling exhibitions and what kind of IP [rights] we can stick to it,” says Waschk. “That’s all under his control. And it’ll work both ways: we want to bring exhibitions that already exist [into Blueprint venues] and also develop exhibitions that we can take on the road.”
MOUSE TRAP In addition to stockpiling content, Waschk and Boris spent 2012 seeking out potential businesses and sites for their envisaged chain of edutainment centres. The first deal they were able to close, early in 2013, was Odysseum in Cologne: an 8,000sq m (86,000sq ft) adventure- based science centre with interactive exhibits spread across several elaborately
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
themed areas, including a Jurassic jungle, Earth’s orbit, the inside of a computer and a science laboratory. First opened in 2009, the attraction held obvious appeal for Waschk, who as CEO of AWC had developed the project on behalf of the investor, Cologne-Bonn Savings Bank, before operating it in a joint venture with SMG Science Center Services. After buying out SMG last year, the challenge for Blueprint was to inject new life into the four-year-old attraction. For starters, AWC oversaw a significant redevelopment of the site, which reopened in July 2013 with a brand new exhibition called The Game: a RFID-based interactive experience that takes the visitor on a journey from the beginnings of human life right up to the present and into the future. But the real game-changer for
Odysseum – and a perfect example of a stated Blueprint aim of forming key rela- tionships with select IP partners – has been the acquisition of one of Germany’s most famous brands: a 43-year-old educational cartoon character called Die Maus (The Mouse). “Outside of Germany it doesn’t mean anything,” says Waschk. “But in Germany more people know it than Coca-Cola; that probably says it all.” Opened last November and bringing
Blueprint’s total investment in the redevelopment up to €2m (US$2.75m, £1.64m), Museum mit der Maus (Museum with the Mouse) offers 1,000sq m (10,760sq ft) of hands-on
AM 2 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88