Following 13 years of planning and development, the newly christened LaunchPAD Children’s Museum in Iowa, US, has reopened to the public following a multi-million dollar makeover.

Formerly known as the Children’s Museum of Siouxland, LaunchPAD has been redesigned by Jack Rouse Associates (JRA), who provided overall planning and design development for the US$6.9m (€6.1m, £4.8m) 7,000sq ft (650sq m) space.

Part of a wider regeneration of downtown Sioux City’s Historic Pearl Street, the family-friendly venue, targeted at children from 0-10 years old, provides an interactive learning and discovery zone split into several exhibition spaces focused on STEM subjects, many of which were influenced by members of local community and Sioux City school districts.

As visitors enter LaunchPAD, the Me and You exhibit will teach children about themselves and their connection with others in the museum and throughout the world. From there, exhibits cover several different interactive topics including Construction, Mechanics and Architecture, River, Wind, Market and Café and Agriculture. The museum also includes an infant-toddler section where the youngest visitors can explore a learning environment with their parents, designed with steeped developmental challenges to encourage them to grow and develop.

“The PAD in LaunchPAD stands for ‘play and discover’, as all of the museum’s exhibits are experiential and hands-on, encouraging imagination, problem solving and open-ended exploration," said LaunchPAD executive director, Bob Fitch.

“When you see a child playing, you are watching a learning process. Play is a child’s work. They are engaging and experimenting with the world around them.”

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