EC1 Lodz

EC1 was the first power station in Lodz, built from 1907 to supply the textile mills and the tram system, and it ran until 2000. The conversion completed in the 2010s kept the industrial fabric - boiler house, turbine hall, machinery, gantries - and inserted a science and technology centre into it, so the exhibits sit among the original plant rather than in a neutral box. There are three permanent routes covering energy conversion, the development of civilisation, and microcosm and macrocosm, with several hundred interactive stations. The planetarium has one of the larger domes in Europe and runs its own programme. A second part of the complex houses the National Centre for Film Culture, which is appropriate in a city with the Polish film school, covering film technique and history with hands-on equipment. The whole site sits beside the rebuilt Fabryczna station and the new city centre development.

What you actually see

• A 1907 power station - boiler house, turbine hall and machinery kept in place.
• Three exhibition routes - energy, civilisation and the scales of the universe.
• A large planetarium dome - among the bigger ones in Europe.
• A film culture centre - technique and history, with equipment to handle.

When to go

All year. A day.

Honest expectations

The separate parts have separate tickets and it adds up. Planetarium shows sell out. Very busy with school groups on weekdays in term time. Closed Mondays.

Nearby

Piotrkowska street and Manufaktura are both a short walk or tram ride away.