chirk castle - the east wing takeover
Vacated for the first time in 400 years, the challenge was to populate the space and consult visitors. With only the fabric of the interiors to work with…
Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol / National Trust
Wrecsam / Wrexham
Interpretation Design
Exhibition Design
Production Management
Content Curation
A wee bit of background
The upkeep of ancestral homes is an increasingly expensive business and the National Trust often steps in to help manage architecture and heritage collections that would otherwise be lost. Keen to set the wheels in motion - on a project to reimagine this part of the castle - the staff asked us to create inclusive, family friendly spaces to uncover the public’s wants and desires.
The Approach
The Myddleton family moving out and NT moving in allowed us to play with a ‘flitting’ design approach: cardboard boxes, packing peanuts, compostable bubblewrap, branded packing tape, shipping labels. We mixed this in with icons relevant to Chirk and started to create a fun set of building blocks, literally and metaphorically.
How to engage
The core element of consultation was through activity but we also gave over spaces for both tired adults and consequence-free fun, like a build your own castle den from sofa parts and blankets. Other activities were linked to anecdotes we’d picked up about the castle. The drawing room obviously had drawing in it, but an
opportunity to design your own wall paper with stencils based on Chirk motifs. Dressing-up was linked to stories about the bad old days of wearing a pot on your head in case of falling tiles, and sleeping in fur to keep the cold at bay. Portrait drawing allowed kids to exhibit on the walls and myths were told and dispelled.
