We made some incredible Techniquest memories in 2025. From our cracking summer partnership with Aardman to the opening of our new zone on the second floor, this was a year typified by collaboration and expansion — not just in-centre, but out in the community, too.
Thousands of you, from babies to seniors, came through our doors to experience special events like Toddler Days, the Puppet Takeover and our Adult Lates events, or a planetarium show or live science show, or just to let your imaginations run wild at our science discovery centre.
To each one of you, we say thank you.
As we look back on our 2025, here are 10 things we’re especially proud of achieving this year.
The Bradbury Zone opening
Construction began on our new second-floor space, the Bradbury Zone, in November 2024. The space was officially unveiled in July for the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama’s Puppet Takeover performances and then some very special Gromit model-making workshops throughout the summer.
Only through generous funding from the Bradbury Foundation, Moondance Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Foyle Foundation and the UK Government through the Shared Prosperity Fund were we able to expand our centre and deliver more STEAM learning to our visitors.
Since October, the Bradbury Zone has housed our new Create & Shape area, allowing families to get hands-on with Kapla blocks, LEGO, K’NEX, origami, weaving and more. Visitor feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re planning to develop the zone’s content even further as part of our 40th anniversary in 2026.
The Puppet Takeover
Over the first weekend of July, Design for Performance students from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) brought their puppet creations to life at Techniquest for The Puppet Takeover.
More than a thousand visitors got to experience the free event, which saw teams of students perform two puppet shows — ‘Team Life’ and ‘Team Space’ — all weekend, with the latter being the first public use of the Bradbury Zone.
Moving our Ant-astic Ants
Nearly seven years ago, we welcomed a colony of leafcutter ants in our Low Light zone, but they made the permanent move to our first-floor Our World zone in April of this year.
Their new, more spacious tank can house between 300,000–400,000 ants and features
greater visibility for our visitors, who can look up to the ceiling and watch them carry their food back to the colony.
There’s lots of interesting information around the curious creatures next to their tank, too, so you can learn more about the centre’s smallest inhabitants as they tend to their fungus farms and protect their queen.
Summer of Invention
We partnered with Academy Award-winning animation studio Aardman this summer to deliver one of the most cracking collaborations in our history. Between 19 July–31 August, visitors could experience the Wallace & Gromit: All Systems Go AR trail around our exhibition floor, plus a special Wallace & Gromit inspired live science show, and workshops where they got to make-and-take their own clay Gromit models in the Bradbury Zone.
On opening weekend, these ‘Claystation’ workshops were led by actual Aardman animators, and we even got a visit from the famous inventing duo themselves!
CSconnected semiconductor workshops
Our Education team visited South Wales’ schools this summer to deliver a brand-new workshop about one of the country’s most exciting tech industries: semiconductors.
The workshop, titled ‘Exploring Compound Semiconductors: From Big Tech to Tiny Devices’, was designed for students aged 9–11 and introduced them to the mini machines that power virtually all of our technology.
Packed with hands-on, practical activities, fun challenges involving Hexbugs, and an immersive robot demonstration, our Education team brought the Techniquest experience to the doorstep of more than 30 primary schools and 3,000 pupils.
Destination STEM: Research Placement and Experiences evening
The Research Placement and Experiences programme, which provides year 12 pupils with the opportunity to work and conduct real research alongside STEM professionals, has been closely connected to us for more than a decade.
This year, seven organisations — including some of Wales’ best universities, NetZero Industry Wales, and us — took part as placement hosts. On 9 October, more than 100 guests journeyed to our site for an opportunity to celebrate their achievements and share their research projects with friends and family.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Steve Bowden Award — a £1,000 cash prize to the student with the most outstanding post-placement assignment, named after our late Chair of the Board — which went to Phoebe Whant from Coleg Gwent for her project Microbiology: The 5-Second Rule — Fact or Fiction?.
World of Work
In March, we hosted a three-day careers event for more than 400 primary school pupils, funded by the Edina Trust.
Among the companies who got involved were General Electric, Airbus, and Space Wales, with the hope that by talking to industry professionals, these pupils would take their first formative steps in a career in STEM.
A total of 20 companies took part in the event, so whether it was Renishaw’s portable 3D printer or the amazing selection of Rubik’s Cubes at Cyber First’s stall that initially caught the pupils’ eyes, there were plenty of activities to get hands-on with.
National Space Academy home education workshop
In December, we welcomed enthusiastic young learners and their guardians for a hands-on space science workshop funded by the UK Space Agency as part of the National Space Academy’s ‘Space To Learn’ project.
Participants were greeted by Techniquest’s Education Officer, Jenny and National Space Academy deliver, Dorian, who introduced the day’s theme and highlighted how space science connects to everyday life.
Every attending family went home with tailored resources designed to extend the learning experience. These materials support guardians in continuing space-themed science education at home — reinforcing concepts from the session and encouraging further discovery.
Little Bear
In September, we introduced Little Bear as a planetarium offering, a short film designed specifically with under-7s in mind. The film was produced by Life Science Centre in Newcastle and is projected in our 4K 360° planetarium.
Even featuring a mini Star Tour at the end to satisfy the curiosity of our youngest stargazers, Little Bear can be booked on weekends and throughout school holidays well into the new year.
Finalists in both the Wales STEM Awards and School Travel Awards
This year, we were honoured to be recognised by both the Wales STEM Awards and School Travel Awards. Our Maths at Work programme was shortlisted for the STEM Educational Programme of the Year (Not-For-Profit) and our Outreach Officer Ana-Mah Din earned Highly Commended in the STEM Rising Star of the Year award.
After winning Best Venue for STEM Learning at the School Travel Awards in 2023 and 2024, we were nominated again for the award in 2025, but this year we were pipped to the post by the brilliant LEGOLAND Windsor Resort.
Thank you again to the visitors, organisations, collaborators and staff who made this year so memorable. Here’s to 2026 (and our 40th birthday)!