Provost Skene’s House

We brought together immersive experiential design and combined it with hands-on interactives, games, digital technology, commissioned illustration and carefully considered graphics to revitalise Provost Skene’s House, Aberdeen’s oldest surviving townhouse dating from 1545.

This exciting new visitor attraction in the heart of the city celebrates the pioneering people of Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland who have shaped the city and helped to transform the world. There are 12 themed galleries, spread over four floors, which explore a range of people from scientists, singers and sportspeople to authors, inventors and actors – game-changers across the generations. Themes encompass: International Trailblazers, World Innovators, Super Stars, Sporting Champions and Wizard Wordsmiths.

The new displays are highly interactive and sensory. Museum objects are given renewed presence supported by graphics, film and digital displays. Hands-on interactives such as Maxwell’s colour wheel, World Life Saver operating table and print your own Doric bookmark are designed to appeal to a broad family audience, engaging both adults and children. This recent review from writer Trudi Tweedie gives a flavour of the positive reaction the new displays have inspired: “Provost Skene’s House refurb is AWESOME! Telling the story of Aberdeen’s notable folk. The interactivity is amazing for kids and adults. Best museum I’ve visited for ages.”

We were responsible for interpretation planning of the visitor experience and ran a series of workshops with stakeholders to develop the concepts. We researched the content, wrote the copy and designed all elements throughout. The displays encourage visitors to explore individual stories as well as discovering how Aberdeen evolved as a city. We transformed the dark ground floor vaults into an immersive Hall of Heroes, with those honoured selected by public vote. Combining digital animations projected onto a number of 3d-printed busts with a specially commissioned soundtrack, the Hall of Heroes creates an immersive experience and will be updated as new heroes are voted into the gallery. Here Annie Lennox rubs shoulders with football legend Alex Ferguson, 15^th-century Bishop Elphinstone nestles next to 21^st-century crime writer Stuart MacBride.

We improved the visitor flow throughout the category A-listed building by creating a jib door to allow visitors to move through parts of the building which had previously been blocked up. An Access Gallery, developed in conjunction with North-East Sensory Services provides an overview for visitors who cannot manage the stairs (a lift could not be inserted in the building because of its listed status).