Discover is growing, and becoming greener...
On Monday 23 February, Discover will be closing for twelve weeks to undertake some transformative building work – greening our building, becoming more sustainable and creating brand new spaces for play and stories. We will reopen mid-late May.
We have been working closely with architects Jan Kattein and closely consulting with families, including our Children’s and Family Forums, Mighty Mega SEND Saturday Club and more, to design a bigger and greener Discover:
We’re creating a new, magical, soft play gallery for 0-2 year olds, created with the help of Professor Sam Wass at UEL’s Institute for the Science of Early Years.. Based on an enchanted garden, this calm space will feature sensory, active play invitations aimed specifically at our youngest visitors, including a tactile water feature.
The ground floor entrance to our building is changing – our cafe will move to here and be recreated as the perfect place for family-feasting, complete with a cosy mezzanine to curl up with a book, and a brand new menu. Our award-winning bookshop is being redesigned. Both it and the cafe will continue to serve Discover visitors but will also be accessible for a quick bite and some book browsing without a Discover ticket – and will have the potential to host additional free events and storytelling sessions.
Our building is moving towards carbon neutrality, with new air source heat pumps heating and cooling our spaces, and the roof hosting solar panels and a new seedum ‘brown roof’.
Shortly after we reopen, in July 2026, an amazing, accessible Story Tree will be sprouting up several storeys through our internal lightwell. The Story Tree will feature a leafy library and wheelchair accessible treehouse.
Architect's plans for new 0-2 play space
Architect's plans for the Amazing Accessible Story Tree
Architect impression of our new Ground Floor Entrance, with cafe and bookshop.
An enormous thanks to our funders and supporters, without whom we could not have made this work happen:
Arts Council England
Biffa Award
Bradbury Foundation
City Bridge Foundation
The Clothworkers’ Foundation
Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at the Prism Charitable Trust
Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Julia Rausing Trust
The Light Fund
London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC)
London Marathon Foundation
Postcode Innovation Trust
SIB Reach
SIB Reach Energy Resilience Fund
The Veolia Environmental Trust
Wolfson Foundation