An interactive children's museum costing more than $20 million (BD7.56m) is to be built next to the Bahrain National Museum, officials announced yesterday.

The building, measuring 11,000 square metres, will be on two floors and contain a children's library, computer labs, a planetarium, multi-purpose hall, a gift shop, a cafeteria, exhibition halls, storage and maintenance facilities and offices.

The 6,000 square metre exhibition area will contain informative and interactive exhibits that will explore three main themes: the natural world, culture and technology.

The conceptual drawings, funded by Arcapita, were unveiled by Jordan-based architects Faris and Faris at a press conference in Bahrain National Museum yesterday.

The Bahrain Children's Museum is spearheaded by the Cultural and National Heritage Sector and sponsors for the project are now being sought.

It will be an interactive and educational institution geared towards the arts, science, technology, industry and the Bahraini identity.

Its aim is to provide a safe place where children and their families can see, touch, explore, create, imagine and interact with their environment and with one another.

Through the exhibits the museum intends to promote child development, education and general well-being.

'It will be an educational museum and children will learn through playing,' said Faris and Faris architect and partner Faris Zaru.

'Most exhibits are interactive, but the informative exhibits will change more frequently. There will also be space for temporary exhibits.

'It will be international, but will have a local touch when tackling historical and cultural aspects.

'It will mostly be a permanent exhibition, which is usually changed or developed every five years.

'We still need eight to 10 months to finalise the engineering drawings and then construction can start. It will take about 18 to 20 months to build.'

The company has already built a children's museum in Amman, Jordan, and a geological museum in Wadi Rum, Jordan, and is now designing a science museum in Ramalla, Palestine.

The non-profit museum will be built on about 70 to 80 per cent of reclaimed land next to the Bahrain National Museum, explained Faris and Faris architect and partner Faris Abdulrah-man.

The museum will be aimed at children aged one to 14 and there is a proposal to have an area for under-threes.

'The planetarium can also be used to screen educational films and the restaurant will be geared to building healthy dietary habits in children.

'There will be a fee to enter the exhibit area, but the library and computer labs will be free of charge.'-TradeArabia News Service