The £7.2 million Being Brunel visitor attraction on Bristol’s harbourside will celebrate the life and legacy of the engineering genius who helped build Britain and shape the world.
It will feature six galleries setting out 150 of Brunel’s personal artefacts – many never seen in public before – to provide unprecedented insight into his life, family, interests and creative mind.
The overall design is set to evoke the atmosphere of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was a celebration of Victorian wonder and invention and featured Brunel on its design committee.
Visitors will step inside Brunel’s original and fully restored Grade II-listed Dock Office in the historic Great Western Dockyard, where he designed and built SS Great Britain.
Brunel was behind some of the world’s greatest feats of engineering, from ocean liners like the SS Great Britain, which revolutionised maritime engineering and world travel, to the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge and Paddington Station.
Visitors to Being Brunel will discover the man behind the extraordinary engineering talent, from his unique relationship with his father, his entrepreneurial talent and design skill through to his love for the arts and drama.