Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
The National Science Centre (Pusat Sains Negara) is Malaysia's national science museum at Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, built to promote science and STEM literacy nationwide. Planning began in 1978, and a temporary centre opened in a converted bungalow on Jalan Kelantan in April 1986 while the permanent building was designed by the Public Works Department as a truncated cone capped with a geodesic dome. The Fifth Malaysia Plan approved the project in 1990, Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghafar Baba laid the foundation stone at Bukit Kiara on 27 February 1992, and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad officially opened the finished 6,717.6 square metre centre on 29 November 1996, alongside Malaysia's first freshwater fish tunnel aquarium. Now under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), the centre closed for seven months of major maintenance in 2025 and reopened on 1 October 2025 with refreshed attractions including an XR Obscura exhibition and a dinosaur Prehistoric Trail.
1978
Planning for a permanent national science centre begins, championed as part of a national push to build public understanding of science and technology under the National Council for Scientific Research and Development (MPKSN).
April 1986
A temporary science centre opens in a renovated bungalow on Jalan Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, officially launched by the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, Stephen Yong Kuet Tze, as a stopgap while the permanent site is developed.
1990
The permanent National Science Centre project is approved under the Fifth Malaysia Plan, with implementation scheduled for the following Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995).
27 February 1992
Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghafar Baba lays the foundation stone for the new centre on an 8 hectare site at Bukit Kiara.
1991-1993
The main building is constructed as a truncated cone capped with a geodesic dome, designed by Malaysia's Public Works Department (Jabatan Kerja Raya), with the structure completed by November 1993.
1993-1994
Malaysia's first freshwater fish tunnel aquarium is built inside the centre, completed in August 1994 as part of the exhibit fit-out that ran through September 1996.
15 April 1996
The temporary Jalan Kelantan centre closes permanently after a decade in operation, ahead of the move to the finished Bukit Kiara building.
29 November 1996
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad officially opens the permanent National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara, comprising 6,717.6 square metres of two-level galleries originally themed Environmental Odyssey, Pathways to Discovery, Future World and Thinking Machines.
1 March 2010
A northern branch, Pusat Sains Negara Cawangan Wilayah Utara, opens at Gunung Keriang, Kedah, extending the centre's reach beyond Kuala Lumpur.
1 March-30 September 2025
The Kuala Lumpur centre closes to the public for roughly seven months of major maintenance and infrastructure upgrading works across multiple levels.
1 October 2025
The centre reopens with an upgraded lineup of galleries, including the XR Obscura exhibition (a rainbow slide and 360 degree digital ocean experience) and a Prehistoric Trail of dinosaur statues, with free admission offered from 1 to 7 October 2025 to mark the reopening.
Truncated cone and geodesic dome
The main building's shape, a truncated cone capped by a geodesic dome, was designed by Malaysia's Public Works Department (JKR) and completed in 1993; its brightly painted dome is why locals often refer to it as the centre with the 'rainbow dome'.
Freshwater fish tunnel aquarium
Built between 1993 and 1994, this was Malaysia's first freshwater fish tunnel aquarium and remains one of the centre's core permanent draws more than three decades later.
Gallery lineup: Science Valley, Wonderspark, Kids' Discovery Place, Kid's World and I-Rays
The centre opened in 1996 with four themed zones (Environmental Odyssey, Pathways to Discovery, Future World, Thinking Machines); today's permanent galleries cover fundamental science (Science Valley), natural phenomena like water, light and wind (Wonderspark), and age-banded children's zones (Kids' Discovery Place for ages 4-6, Kid's World for ages 7-12), reflecting how the exhibits have been refreshed across the centre's history.
I-Rays radiation gallery
A three-part gallery introducing radiation science, the pioneers behind radiation technology, and its applications in medicine, research and agriculture, a subject area distinct from the centre's biology- and physics-focused zones.
Not the National Planetarium
The National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara is a separate institution from the National Planetarium (Planetarium Negara), which sits on a different site atop a hill in the Lake Gardens on Jalan Perdana and opened earlier, in February 1994; the two are commonly confused because both eventually fell under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).
2025 XR Obscura and Prehistoric Trail
Added during the centre's seven month renovation that ended in October 2025, these newer attractions pair a rainbow slide and 360 degree digital ocean experience with a walk-through trail of dinosaur statues, sitting alongside the original 1990s galleries rather than replacing them.
Planning began in 1978 and a temporary centre opened on Jalan Kelantan in April 1986, but the permanent National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara was officially opened on 29 November 1996 by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The project itself had been approved in 1990 under the Fifth Malaysia Plan.
The building was designed by Malaysia's Public Works Department (Jabatan Kerja Raya) as a truncated cone capped with a geodesic dome. Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghafar Baba laid the foundation stone at the Bukit Kiara site on 27 February 1992, and construction was completed by November 1993.
From April 1986 until 15 April 1996, a temporary science centre operated out of a renovated bungalow on Jalan Kelantan in Kuala Lumpur while the permanent Bukit Kiara building was constructed. It closed for good once the new centre opened later that same year.
No, they are separate institutions on separate sites. The National Planetarium (Planetarium Negara) is on a hill in the Lake Gardens on Jalan Perdana and opened in February 1994, while the National Science Centre is at Bukit Kiara and opened in November 1996; both now sit under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The Kuala Lumpur centre closed to the public from 1 March to 30 September 2025 for major maintenance and infrastructure upgrading works. It reopened on 1 October 2025 with an upgraded lineup of galleries and offered free admission for its reopening week, from 1 to 7 October 2025.
The centre's freshwater fish tunnel aquarium, built between 1993 and 1994, was Malaysia's first of its kind. It remains a permanent fixture and was retained through the centre's 2025 renovation.
The National Science Centre operates under Malaysia's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). A second, smaller branch, Pusat Sains Negara Cawangan Wilayah Utara, has operated at Gunung Keriang, Kedah, since it opened on 1 March 2010.
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