A significant refurbishment project has seen MDF used to upgrade the interactive Wonderlab gallery at the Science Museum in London.
The Science Museum is one of the UK’s best-loved cultural destinations for adults and children alike, with a focus on inspiring futures and making science accessible for everyone. This overarching goal comes to life in Wonderlab, an interactive hands-on experience developed to ignite scientific curiosity and fuel the imagination. Originally opened in 2016, by 2023 its popular Colour Room, an immersive space designed to communicate the science of colour, was due a refurbishment.
A core part of the refresh involved replacing worn fittings with new ones and reinvigorating the space with a vibrant landscape mural, incorporating a prominent rainbow feature that would help show how the colours of the rainbow appear under monochromatic light.
James Latham, an independent timber, panel and decorative surface distributor, provided seven different shades of Valchromat to create the colours of the rainbow. The MDF was chosen thanks to its ability to successfully blend aesthetics, durability, and versatility, while doing so safely and sustainably. Valchromat is a popular MDF material used for leisure, attraction, and retail fit-outs.
The type of material chosen for the rainbow feature was important. Not only did it need to be structurally robust, able to withstand the rigours of a high-footfall environment and deliver the visual impact stipulated within the design brief, it also had to meet a set of regulatory requirements unique to public attractions.
The feature would be subject to constant physical interaction from visitors of all ages, so every aspect of the fit-out has to meet strict safety and sustainability standards, including non-toxicity. Furthermore, it had to be easy to clean to ensure the highest levels of hygiene.
This was a delicate balance to strike for the museum’s Spatial & Exhibitions Designer, Laurence Deane, working with fabricator Hadley Interiors and its long-time distribution partner James Latham.
Once the brief had been shared with James Latham’s expert specification team, Valchromat quickly emerged as the clear material choice. Valchromat is a lightweight MDF panel available in a wide spectrum of colours, and Laurence chose seven different shades to faithfully represent the rainbow. His team was also particularly impressed by the consistency of colour running through the entire body of each panel as well as its ultra-smooth finish.
Pushing the visual dial even further, to ensure each colour popped, James Latham recommended treating each Valchromat sheet used with pigmented oils from specialist manufacturer Koate. This not only added extra tonal depth and higher contrast, it also protected the feature and made it easier to maintain.
Simple to work, Valchromat can be cut to almost any shape, from an expansive arch to a tiny tile. Even better, as demonstrated in the rainbow display, Valchromat can be bonded, planed, or sculpted to create 3-D decorative features.
Laurence said: “The Koate-treated Valchromat leaps out as soon as you enter the room, providing an important visual anchor. The vivid, matt tones also perfectly achieve the objective of the piece: demonstrating how colours appear under monochrome light. A huge thanks to James Latham for their consultancy on the project, we look forward to working with them in the future.”
There are more than 10 colours to choose from and Valchromat is available in the following board sizes: 2,500mm x 1,850mm/1,250mm, in 8mm, 12mm, 25mm, or 30mm thicknesses.
