Lovers of beer go to beer gardens. Lovers of art go to art galleries. Where do lovers of science and technology go?
When Kristin Lawrence moved from the Bay Area to Boulder, she sought out to find a place to go with her family to enjoy science. Lawrence, a former professor of planetary geophysics at Stanford, couldn’t find such a place around her.
So, she decided to build her own.
“Imagine you sit at a bar with your kids and a NASA engineer might draw out the latest project on a napkin.”
Lawrence and her team are currently developing The Hopper, an innovator play space in Boulder where families will be able to take part in STEM projects together.
“The best thing about The Hopper is that appeals to both kids and adults simultaneously,” Lawrence said. “There are very few spaces that appeal to an adult on an intellectual level and while simultaneously letting kids play and explore at their own pace that are also built for comfort and hanging out as a family.”
The daily activities could range from brewing your own root beer with dry ice, to building robotic drones from Legos, or even solving an escape room style briefcase puzzle.
The Hopper is meant to be a community space for lovers of STEM to gather, not intimidating and not overwhelming.
“Imagine you sit at a bar with your kids and a NASA engineer might draw out the latest project on a napkin,” said COO Vanessa Schatz.
In addition to science and technology activities, the space will offer food and drink for children and adults. Think brewery mixed with interactive science museum.
Since forming The Hopper in 2016, Lawrence and the team have secured seed funding and developed the grand plans behind the STEM hub. After presenting at Denver Startup Week in September and hosting beta events throughout the year, the team is seeking private investors.
The Hopper team has already secured a 14,000-foot space in Boulder that they’ll transform into a science discovery playground. The space will have various rooms and sections for a constantly changing menu of STEM activities.
“One of the goals is there is always something changing, so when families come back there’s always something new to experience,” said creative director Jill Katzenberger.
The Hopper won’t open officially until sometime in 2020, Lawrence said, but they’ll be active community members long before then. The Hopper team is planning additional pop-up events and community engagement sessions throughout 2019 to gather feedback for the space.
The Hopper will operate on a membership model, offering a variety of memberships to the public to fit every need.
Lawrence’s ultimate goal for The Hopper is to create a central hub for STEM in the community.
“I'd love to see the space and the activities we have in the space be a result of community input and work. That way the Hopper is not just a business, it’s a place that is of, by, and for the community,” she said.
