The Old Cavendish Laboratory on Free School Lane in the centre of Cambridge was the site of some of the world’s most important scientific discoveries between 1874 and 1974.
We are opening the doors of the laboratory to create a visitor experience of the highest quality, founded on the expertise of Cambridge physicists and historians of science, brought to life by a professional creative team.
The immersive theatrical performances will take place in the original laboratory spaces. This series of repeated live events featuring scientists and experiments of that the era, will be enhanced by digital and video content.
Audiences will include national and international visitors to Cambridge, the local community, young people and schools from around the country, and students from Cambridge and beyond.
The project will involve historians, scientists, teachers, filmmakers and arts professionals.
Digital elements will allow audiences nationally and globally to access the research, archives, learning, and elements of the experience online, and the project will engage young people and the community in research and science education.
“This surely must be one of the most significant scientific buildings in the United Kingdom, if not the world”
Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group
Visitor Experience
Through live performance, rich stage sets and digital interpretation, the historic Cavendish Laboratory experience will share some of the most important moments in the history of science, and tell the stories of discoveries that reshaped our knowledge of the world.
Meet on Free School Lane in the centre of Cambridge and be guided into a world of scientific experimentation. Through the performance, you will explore detailed sets, and experience some of the most important scientific breakthroughs in history. Leaving the bustle of 21st Century Cambridge behind, you will step back in time and enter the laboratory spaces as they appeared in centuries past. There you will meet scientists who won Nobel Prizes and their colleagues who worked with them in the Laboratory. Discover more about the people, the scientific questions they were investigating, and the conclusions they reached, all of which have had impact on our lives today.
The experience will offer the general public, tour groups, school groups and visitors to Cambridge the opportunity to enter a world of science for a 90 minute immersive adventure. Scenes might include the workshop where the lab’s glassblower is crafting the delicate glass tube used to discover the electron; an office where Francis Crick and James Watson are discussing the structure of DNA; or the lab where John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton are using the world’s first particle accelerator to split the atom.
The live events will be presented for the first time in 2026, with the ambition to continue with annual seasons of the performances. We plan a twelve week summer run with two events a day from Wednesdays to Sundays and three performances on Fridays and Saturdays, including special weekend evening events. From 2026 we aim to continue to present seasons of the experience and regular special events.
Project Stages
Phase 1: Three-year project to develop, build and present the Old Cavendish Experience
The project consists of three stages:
Stage 1 (until end 2024-2025)
The development of the full business plan and creative proposal, establishing project partners, funding applications and fundraising from philanthropic donations.
Project Launch – We aim to time the launch of the project to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Cavendish.
Stage 2 (2025)
A period of site preparation, historic research, digital archive preparation, script writing and design of the experience.
Stage 3 (from 2026)
The full experience. This stage will finish with a review of the potential for a long-term sustainable experience within the heart of Cambridge.
We anticipate that the first three stages of the project, including the research, engagement of communities, creation of the live heritage experience and digital assets, filming and archiving will take place over a period of three years to include the refurbishment of the lecture theatre, laboratory spaces and related technical equipment.
Phase 2: Ongoing commitment to use of space
The results will be assessed with a view to financial, educational and creative impact and potential longevity as a self-funding experience.
Top image: Particle accelerator illustration
Lower image: Free School Lane