Work has begun on the new US$185m Perot Museum of Science & Nature in Dallas, Texas.

The museum’s new home, designed by Thom Mayne of LA-based architects Morphosis, is being built at Victory Park in downtown Dallas.

Chair of the museum’s board, Frank-Paul King, said: “The groundbreaking of the Perot Museum of Nature & Science is the next major milestone toward opening the doors to a world-class facility, one designed for visitors to experience, interact and explore, get inspired and learn about science and the world around them.”

The 180,000sq ft museum will include five floors housing 10 permanent exhibition galleries, including a children’s museum, an outdoor playspace, an educational wing equipped with six labs, a 300-seat digital cinema, an auditorium, a café, a retail store and offices.

Exhibitions will include the Being Alive, Being Human exhibit, the Electricity & Distribution Gallery, the Engineering Innovations Lab, the Paleontology Hall and the Science of Sports exhibit.

The museum is expected to be completed by 2012.