Where Water Meets Wonder

La Nube STEAM Discovery Center

Making a Splash

In 2012, the vision for La Nube STEAM Discovery Center took shape, aiming to create a dynamic, hands-on learning space for all ages in El Paso. To bring this vision to life, the city partnered with Gyroscope Inc. to design an engaging exhibit layout. A key highlight is the Flow Gallery—a 6,000+ square foot water-themed experience exploring water in the world, fluid dynamics, and hands-on engineering. When it came time for fabrication, Boss Display was the clear choice, ensuring this one-of-a-kind exhibit exceeded expectations and delivered an unforgettable learning experience.

 
 

The entirety of the space is riddled with STEAM themed interactives that inspire curiosity and learning.

The gallery is outfitted with several smaller interactives, geared towards toddlers and younger guests.

Visitors walk through a walk in dishwasher and can interact with various water pathways on the themed water wall.

 
 

Play, Experiment, Explore

The Flow Gallery immerses guests in the fascinating world of water, showcasing its uses through larger-than-life interactive exhibits like a 20-foot interactive toilet, a bus washing station, and a walk-through dishwashing experience. The water appliance theme extends throughout the space with creative design elements such as a wall of dryers and playful bubble graphics. Beyond everyday applications, guests can explore fluid dynamics firsthand, watching laminar jets launch balls through the air and witnessing the power of a 12-foot water vortex. Every element of the gallery is carefully designed to spark curiosity, invite experimentation, and create an engaging STEAM learning experience.

 
 

The Duck Race portion of the table encourages guests to race rubber ducks across a Duplo building area, where they can create obstacles and dams to traverse.

Nearly every square foot of table space is packed in interactive hands-on stations for guests to interact with.

The gallery’s name is displayed in prominent lettering as you walk into the space.

 
 

Engineering the Experience

With both indoor and outdoor elements, the sheer scale of the Flow Gallery presented unique challenges, particularly in installing towering 20-foot structures on the building’s top floor. Each component was meticulously engineered for efficient transport, with some elements designed to be manually carried upstairs. Committed to the Discovery Center’s mission of accessible learning for all, the gallery features thoughtfully designed spaces to ensure inclusivity for guests of all abilities. To support the exhibit’s expansive water features, an adjacent pump and filtration room was outfitted with six commercial filtration units and an automated chemical balancing system, ensuring smooth operation and minimal maintenance.

 
 
“Pure stainless steel with a vortex sucking down water 20 feet high as the main attraction with surrounding exhibits matching in grandiosity. We asked for half of an entire floor dedicated to water as a final stop, a surprise, and they delivered. Thank you Boss Display.”
— Christopher Nunez and Gina Martinez, VP of Facilities & Exhibits and CEO, La Nube
 
 

Flowing into the Future

The Flow Gallery offers a dynamic experience, ensuring that every visit brings something new and exciting, encouraging guests to return time and time again. From the Giant Vortex to the Walk-in Washer, this one-of-a-kind exhibit embodies the spirit of La Nube STEAM Discovery Center, furthering its mission to ignite imagination and inspire curiosity. As Boss Display’s largest water gallery to date, we are incredibly proud to have played a role in bringing this awe-inspiring space to life, creating an engaging environment where learning and play flow seamlessly together.

 
 

The Giant Toilet water table also features a bus washing station where guests can build water ways in order to wash the bus traveling past.

The vertical water screw also provides and engaging introduction of water into the table.

Photos and Video courtesy of La Nube STEAM Discovery Center.

Features:

  • Giant vortex table 

    • Central large vortex | The oversized vortex serves as the centerpiece to the table and catches the play balls that are launched by the laminars. 

    • Laminar ball launch stations | Guests can launch play balls from three distinct stations around the table.

    • Interactive water vortex | Turning the handwheel collapses the funnel shaped water vortex, turning the handwheel back causes the vortex to form again.

    • Make-a-fountain | Guests can experiment with different shaped wands that can be pressed onto a water spout to create a variety of fountains.

    • Ball blower lift and overhead track | A blower cabinet allows visitors to send play balls up to the overhead track and into the vortex. 

    • Duck race and duplo dam | The large duck sculpture serves as the starting ramp for guests to race rubber ducks through the duplo dam building area. 

    • Fogging mushroom fountain | Two fogging mushroom fountains can be activated by turning a handwheel on the side of the table. 

    • Walk-in shower interactive | Guests can step underneath an acrylic viewing dome and watch as water cascades overhead.

  • Faucets, Sinks & Baths Table

    • Sink & bath station | Guests can rinse off baby dolls in the miniature bath stations using water from the sinks. 

    • Water mushroom fountain | Water spills evenly out a central tube, creating a circular mushroom-shaped sheet of water for visitors to interact with. 

    • Faucets and tipping buckets | Several lever activated faucets send water through the variety of tipping buckets and other water toys. 

  • Giant toilet table 

    • Interactive giant toilet | The 20 foot tall toilet can be flushed by guests every few minutes and provides a unique entry point for water to be introduced to the table. 

    • Ball wall with overhead tube | Guests work together to fill the overhead toilet with play balls, using blowers and conveyors to send them through the tubing and track. 

    • Oversized water wheel | The large water wheel is mounted above the table and is activated by sending water through a slanted overhead track. 

    • Bus washing station | Visitors can utilize several build-a-pipe interactives to create pathways for water to wash onto the bus as it travels down the track. 

    • Vertical screw lift | Water and play balls can be transferred to the overhead slanted track, eventually feeding into the water wheel.

  • Baby faucet table | This small circular table is designed for infants to experience water in a sensory environment, complete with child-safe seats around the exterior of the table. 

  • Walk-in washer | The immersive dishwasher doubles as a water wall where guests can activate flows of water and direct their path. Mounted graphics further enhance the overall theme and experience. 

  • Bubble wall | Serving as the entrance to the gallery, the fully enclosed bubble wall is backlit with LED’s and also doubles as a bench.  

  • Spin cycle stories |  Incorporating functional elements like seating and storage, spin cycle stories also presents a unique series of dryers housing several graphic elements. 

  • Entry bench & dryer | Another blend of function and play, the dryer cabinet houses multiple hand dryers that feed warm air through hoses to dry guests hands.

 
 

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