Rob Hollingsworth explains Science World's 131-panel makeover
science world is being turned into the official FIFA match ball ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Vancouver next month, with custom shaped panels going onto the dome over the next four weeks. Rob Hollingsworth, Science World’s senior director of commercial sales and partnerships, said the exterior is being transformed with panels made from drone imagery of the whole building.
“The Look Company flew a drone around and took imagery of the whole of the dome and that’s allowed them to individually manufacture 131 panels which is what you see going up today, and each one is a different size and shape so they literally had to have by the cm measurements for each panel – no two are the same believe it or not,” Hollingsworth said.
Science World dome panels
The work turns the Vancouver landmark into a giant soccer ball using 131 custom panels, each a different size and shape. The Look Company’s drone survey gave the measurements needed to manufacture the pieces individually before they were attached to the exterior.
The installation is happening as the World Cup approaches and as venues around Vancouver are being finished. For visitors, the change is visible from outside: Science World is becoming part of the tournament atmosphere before the event reaches the city next month.
FIFA Museum at Science World
At the same time, the FIFA Museum is bringing its traveling Soccer and Technology exhibition to North America for the first time. The exhibition opens at Science World on Friday and runs until September.
Fiona Cole-Hamilton, vice president of experience and products at Science World, said the exhibit fits the institution’s focus on different career paths in science. “We’re really big at science world on encouraging all sorts of different types of careers in science and we love that when exhibitors come to this exhibition that they’ll learn you don’t have to wear a lab coat, you don’t have to be in a laboratory to be a scientist but you can take all of that amazing science knowledge, innovation and go and do something behind the beautiful game,” she said.
Technology in the exhibit
The exhibition is built around five sections: broadcasting and media, intelligent data, refereeing and fair play, staging the game, and an innovation lab. It includes a camera used in the 1954 World Cup, along with wearable sensors and remote-controlled drones used today.
Marco Fazzone, managing director of the FIFA Museum, said the exhibit links soccer with technical development. “The idea behind the exhibition like other area’s in our society with sport it grows along technical development, so the idea is behind this to make our beautiful sport to make better decisions and supporting that development,” he said.
Dirk Schlemmer, who works in football technology strategy at FIFA Innovation, said video match officials use all match-facing camera angles and work with a replay operator to identify the best view before contacting officials in the stadium. That setup is part of the exhibition content, alongside the rest of the technology on display.
For visitors coming to Science World, the shift is both outside and inside: a building wrapped in World Cup imagery, and an exhibition showing how the sport’s tools, broadcasts and officiating have changed over time.
