Macao Science Center

On 26 February 2003, the concept design for the Macao Science Center (Centro de Ciência de Macau, 澳門科學館), submitted by I. M. Pei (貝聿銘), was approved by the Macao Foundation's Council of Trustees. Pei had put forward two proposals: a glass structure with triangular features and an arch-shaped structure. The council chose the second, taking into account the reality of Macao.

The centre was designed by Pei Partnership Architects (貝氏建築事務所), the firm of Pei's two sons, in association with him. It was to meet three objectives: education, tourism and conferences. Construction took more than four years and cost 337 million patacas. President Hu Jintao inaugurated it on 19 December 2009, with Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, who thanked Pei Partnership Architects on the occasion. The centre opened to the public in January 2010.

The centre is made up of three parts. The tallest is the exhibition centre, an inclined, asymmetrical cone: its fourteen galleries follow one another in an upward spiral, with a large atrium inside and a spiral walkway from which the galleries lead off. Beside it, a hemispherical building houses the planetarium, next to the convention centre and the offices.

The cone is set off by an arch-shaped glass viewing deck with a 180-degree view, and by a scenic pavilion linked to the exit of the fourteenth gallery.

The whole stands at the south-eastern corner of the peninsula, close to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal (外港客運碼頭) and Fisherman's Wharf (漁人碼頭), surrounded by water on three sides.

The exhibition centre has fourteen galleries and an atrium, some 5,800 sq m in all. Thirteen galleries are permanent; they cover, among other subjects, astronomy, navigation, biodiversity, acoustics, mechanics, electricity and electromagnetism, data and sustainable development. The fourteenth hosts changing exhibitions. The atrium, on the ground floor, is used mainly for themed exhibitions.

The planetarium screens 2D and 3D films on a tilted hemispherical screen 15.24 m across, with digital 8K and 3D projection; it has 127 seats and 4 wheelchair spaces. The recorded programmes are narrated through headphones, in Cantonese, Mandarin and English among other languages. The convention centre includes a conference hall that can hold 500 people. The building also has a gift shop, a restaurant and a baby room.

The centre is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm, with the last ticket sold 30 minutes before closing. It is closed on Thursdays, unless the Thursday is a public holiday, and on Lunar New Year's Eve; it also closes while typhoon signal no. 8 or higher is hoisted. A few Thursdays of exceptional opening appear in the calendar the centre publishes.

There is no advance sale: same-day tickets are bought at the ticket desk, on the centre's website or through WeChat. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. Large luggage is not allowed into the exhibition centre or the planetarium; free lockers are in the lobby. Photography is allowed for private use, without a tripod, and wheelchairs can be borrowed free of charge.

The centre is close to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Fisherman's Wharf and the Cultural Centre; several bus lines serve the Science Center stop (M266). Do not miss the scenic pavilion at the exit of the fourteenth gallery.