Public it's not. The art of first impressions.

My oldest, who is really into modern architecture, thought the building was fantastic. The free-form pink-framed windows on the huge black box gave just a hint of the neon and silver interior. Lots (and I mean lots) of friendly staff were on hand. They even leapt to call a lift for us (everyone was meant to start on the top floor and work their way down).

A shiny steel slug shape, basking in pink and purple neon, stretched from the reception desk to the lifts and it was this structure that concealed the toilets. First impressions were still good as the boys wowed at the spaceship style design. There was no difficulty in persuading them to wash their hands: the main feature of a giant circular washbasin looked like a fountain as all the central taps came on at once. It's a pity the emphasis on form over function appeared to overlook the need for soap dispensers, as the few bottles of soap left on top of this washing sculpture looked like an afterthought. I also did wonder afterwards whether it was really environmentally friendly to have a dozen taps switch on to wash one tiny pair of hands.

Have you ever noticed how we only voice these sort of niggling criticisms later on if the rest of the experience starts to unravel?

After a brief glimpse of the theatre space where nothing was happening yet, we accepted the lift and were ushered to the top floor.

The array of touch screens looked quite funky, but had nothing to interest the children as the interactive element wasn't working yet. It was at this point, as we walked towards the empty gallery - which Terry Grimley's preview told me would slope back down - that we were politely told we would need a timed ticket "because of health and safety".

Now if the gallery looked packed and there were eager art lovers tripping over the exhibits, I might have understood. To my untrained eye the ticket queues looked more risky. Right up to the time we left I scarcely saw more than a dozen people in the gallery space.

A venue aimed at families needs to understand the practicalities of asking young children to wait two hours for no apparent reason. As it was too early for lunch, we decided to go elsewhere.

In the lift back down a few more niggles started to surface as we were joined some local people sharing their opinions about the cost of the building. When they have got to be persuaded to part with £7 per person for the next visit that's not a good sign.

Will I return with the family? Possibly, especially if they have some good kids events during the summer holidays - though the admission price is certainly an issue.

Pete's West Brom Blog has some good images and a video item from Channel Four so you can get a better feel of what the venue is about (as long as the commentary doesn't put you off from venturing anywhere near the town)

Far more likely for us however is that we will go to Wolverhampton Art Gallery, which we discovered for the first time after our earlier disappointment in West Brom. It has pop art, a hands-on sculpture gallery and real family-friendly displays (as well as stuff for grown-ups). It's brilliant. And free. Now that was an excellent first impression.