The launch of a major £1m project at a Halton museum has moved a step closer.
An application for listed building consent has been made to Halton Council by the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in Widnes, which could pave the way for the launch of the Synergy Project.
The project has been funded by a £1m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and tells the story of the chemical industry through the lives of the
people who pioneered it.
If the application is approved there will be alterations to the inside of the museum. The work will take place on the first-floor gallery and fourth-floor observatory, together with work on the ground-floor Brunner Gallery.
It will involve transforming the museum’s galleries into ‘interactive, multi-sensory, free flowing spaces’ which tell the story of the local chemical industry and how it has shaped the landscape, culture and people of the borough.
The project will also digitise the museum’s extensive archive of more than 100,000 historical artefacts and records. It is also intended to enhance the museum’s education programmes with the implementation of new heritage activities, as well as reach wider audiences through a programme of new community activities and events.
The listed building application relates to the internal exhibition fit-out in areas that have already undergone what the application said was ‘substantial adaptation’ for museum use.
The application said no change was proposed to the external form, roof, principal elevations or silhouette of the listed building.
In reference to the design approach, a design and access statement submitted in support, said: “The design has been developed with Catalyst’s co-creation group and places people, accessibility and local identity at its centre.
“The visual language draws on chemical structures, litmus colours and industrial materials without attempting a false historic reconstruction.”
The building on Mersey Road was built around 1860 for Hutchinson & Co., one of the early chemical manufacturers associated with the rapid development of Widnes as a major centre of the alkali and chemical industries.
It was historically known as the Tower Building and later became associated with Gossage’s works. It was listed at Grade II in 1983, which requires listed building consent for any major work.
The Catalyst is the UK’s only museum dedicated to the chemical industry.
9th October 2026
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