It's been open for less than a year, but the Waihi Gold Discovery Centre is already winning accolades.

The centre has just won the Best Visitor Experience award at this year's New Zealand Museum Awards.

Waihi Gold Discovery Centre General Manager Eddie Morrow says they wanted to create something that told the story of Waihi's goldmine.

"It's about the customer, if you like, or the visitor actually unfolding the story as they go through the discovery centre, so there's lots of things to do.

"It's very interactive, so it's doing rather than looking."