Titus is revealed

Titus: T rex is King opens to the public today at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham. Creative Good was engaged as exhibition designer in March 2020, working alongside client and consultant teams to help deliver this five-month temporary exhibition.

Titus is the first real Tyrannosaurus rex to be exhibited in England for more than a century.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jul/03/real-t-rex-goes-on-show-in-england-for-first-time-in-over-a-century

Northampton Museum & Art Gallery reopening date announced

Exciting news! Northampton Museum & Art Gallery has announced a reopening date of 10th July 2021. Creative Good has been working on the exhibition design & fit-out elements of this major refurbishment project since 2016. We are delighted to see it coming to fruition.

https://www.northamptonmuseums.com/info/26/abington-oak-room/199/museums-opening-soon

Bringing Titus T. rex to the UK

Titus: T. rex is King is an extraordinary exhibition, showcasing the first real Tyrannosaurus rex to be displayed in England for over a century. Opening at Wollaton Hall Natural History Museum in July 2021, this is an epic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come face to face with a real T. rex up-close and personal in the UK. 

Creative Good is extremely proud to have been appointed as exhibition designer by Nottingham City Council.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-56889834

https://wollatonhall.org.uk/titus/

'A Christmas Carol' - exterior graphics for Sandwell MBC

Just before Christmas we were asked by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council to design and supply a set of temporary exterior graphic panels. The council wanted bold, engaging graphic panels for the outdoor spaces of their museum sites, to provide a backdrop to outdoor activities while the museum buildings themselves were closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The graphics feature the beautiful illustrations of John Leech, from the 1843 first edition of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and Arthur Rackham, from an early twentieth century edition. The panels were designed, artworked, manufactured and delivered in two weeks, for the council to install on site. Our client is extermely pleased with the results and visitor feedback has been very positive.

Christmas & New Year shut down period

 

Interpreting HMS Trincomalee’s figurehead

HMS Trincomalee, built in 1817, is the oldest wooden vessel afloat in the world and is moored at the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s Hartlepool site. When the ship was restored in the 1990s, its figurehead was found to be suffering from rot and was replaced by a replica. The original, carved in 1845 in preparation for the ship’s first commission, was ‘rediscovered’ in a storeroom in 2016. It was fully restored during 2020 and is now on display as the new centrepiece of the HMS Trincomalee gallery.

Creative Good was appointed to light and interpret the restored figurehead. We designed and built new displays including graphics, an audio-visual presentation and a simple physical interactive, all of which have been styled to sit comfortably within the existing design language of the gallery. Installation was particularly challenging, with new lighting and decorations having to be installed above a staircase whilst working around the restored (and protected!) figurehead. To address the resulting risks, we developed a bespoke working platform that was manufactured in modules off site, thereby enabling safe and shortened installation and removal operations.

Further details of the project can be found on the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s website:

https://www.nmrn.org.uk/news-events/nmrn-blog/150-years-service-hms-trincomalees-figurehead

https://www.nmrn.org.uk/news-events/nmrn-blog/restoring-hms-trincomalees-1845-figurehead 

Battle of Britain 80th Anniversary

Today marks the 80th Anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain. Two years ago this month we were handing over Phase 2 of our work on the redevelopment project at the Battle of Britain Memorial in Kent, in time for their Memorial Day celebrations.

Sadly, the Memorial site is currently closed due to coronavirus and, as a consequence, has lost a huge proportion of its annual revenue. The Trust has launched a Crowdfunder appeal in an effort to offset this loss and secure the future of the Memorial.

https://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org/

Northampton's new museum offers glimpse inside on what should have been opening day

Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic has delayed the opening of our latest project. Our client has just tweeted out some pictures to show how the spaces are shaping up.

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020-06-20/northampton-s-new-museum-offers-glimpse-of-what-s-on-offer-on-what-should-have-been-opening-day/

HMS Trincomalee’s Figurehead

HMS Trincomalee, built in 1817, is the oldest wooden vessel afloat in the world and is moored at the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s Hartlepool site. Its figurehead was carved in 1845 in preparation for the ship’s first commission.

Creative Good is delighted to have been appointed to design and fit the lighting and interpretation for the display of this rare and iconic object at The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool.

https://www.nmrn.org.uk/news-events/nmrn-blog/famous-figurehead-ship-be-restored-its-former-glory

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-51536415

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/people/figurehead-hartlepools-iconic-hms-trincomalee-be-restored-and-put-display-1556339

Northampton Museum & Art Gallery reopening date announced

Creative Good has been working on the the exhibition design & fit-out elements of this major refurbishment project since 2016. The reopening date has now been fixed and we are excited to see the project reaching fruition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-51576675

Northampton Museum & Art Gallery project is nearing completion

Exciting times on our latest project.

Whitchurch Silk Mill wins another award

Congratulations to Whitchurch Silk Mill for winning the 2019 SPACES Award for Heritage Conservation.

The SPACES announcement states that "Design interventions were judged relative to the sensitivity of each element. As a result of the project there is now a secure future for Whitchurch Silk Mill, not only as a visitor attraction, but also a source of employment for the local community,"

See further details here:

https://thespaces.org.uk/spaces-awards-2019-heritage-conservation/

Whitchurch Silk Mill wins RIBA Award

We are delighted to learn that Whitchurch Silk Mill has won the RIBA South Award 2019. The citation makes mention of the interactive learning environment and sensitive detailing which Creative Good helped to design and deliver on this conservation-led project.

More details can be found on the RIBA website here.

Preserving the Fabric at Whitchurch Silk Mill

  

Whitchurch Silk Mill is a Grade II* listed textile watermill built in 1813-1815 on the River Test in the small Hampshire town of Whitchurch. Operating as a working museum, it is the oldest working silk mill in the UK still in its original building. The Preserving the Fabric project has regenerated the site, ensuring that traditional silk weaving continues and that heritage skills are passed on, whilst responding sensitively to the conservation requirements of its industrial and natural heritage.

Creative Good has been providing design and interpretation consultancy services to the project since early 2016, helping to secure an HLF Second Round pass and to deliver the project thereafter. Following a year of closure to enable extensive conservation, extension and refurbishment works, the Mill reopened last month. Follow the links below to find out more.

whitchurchsilkmill.org.uk

bbc.co.uk

basingstokegazette.co.uk

Revisiting Brideshead

In March and April 2017, Creative Good created a new exhibition for Castle Howard exploring the 1981 television production of Brideshead Revisited. Working closely with the Castle Howard Estate, we created sensitive new displays, introducing audio-visual media into a historic context and making all exhibition content more accessible and engaging for visitors.

Sir David Attenborough formally opens Bradgate Park Visitor Centre

We were delighted to attend yesterday's formal opening of Bradgate Park Visitor Centre. Creative Good have been involved with the project for over 4 years, providing interpretation, design and project management services to Bradgate Park Trust, so it was very rewarding to hear Sir David speak about the Park and how much it means to him personally.

The opening event was reported in the Loughborough Echo.

Bradgate Park Visitor Centre re-opens

First enclosed around 800 years ago as a medieval deer park, today Bradgate Park covers some 830 acres and welcomes 500,000 visitors a year. The Park is home to some of the oldest fossils in the world and contains the ruins of Bradgate House, birthplace and childhood home of Lady Jane Grey - the "nine-day Queen" of England. The Park's redeveloped and extended visitor centre opens to the public on 1st July 2016.

Creative Good has been involved in the project to redevelop the visitor centre since 2012, contributing to master planning, fund-raising efforts and publicity events, and providing full interpretive planning, design and management services throughout.

The new facility is double the size of the old visitor centre and new displays will tell the multi-faceted 600 million year story of the Park, covering themes as diverse as geology, ancient history, natural history and modern park management. The pictures here were taken as exhibition fit-out neared completion.

http://www.bradgatepark.org/

New galleries opened for the Museum of the Mercian Regiment

Creative Good has provided design and build services to the Museum of the Mercian Regiment for their new galleries at Nottingham Castle. The Museum covers over 250 years of regimental history, from the founding of the 45th Regiment of Foot in 1741 to the present day 2 MERCIAN. In addition to designing and artworking all of the graphics, including conservation-grade in-case graphics, we produced simple physical interactives and a touchscreen unit for the relocated galleries.

Made possible by the award of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant,  the Museum of the Mercian Regiment (WFR Collection), formerly known as the Sherwood Foresters Gallery, will be officially reopened on 2nd July 2016 to coincide with the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

 

New visitor centre opens at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings

Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is a unique and internationally important site, containing seven listed buildings including the first cast-iron framed building in the world. Historic England and its partners developed a project to conserve and bring back into use two historic buildings and create public realm space so a broad range of people can explore, learn, participate and enjoy the site’s unique and varied heritage.

Creative Good provided interpretation and design consultancy services for the scheme, which includes site welcome, orientation and wayfinding signage, indoor interpretation and exterior interpretation onto the site. The new visitor centre and selected outdoor areas of the site were opened to the public yesterday.

The BBC reported on the opening event here.

Historic England's Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings web page

Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings website

Temporary exhibition opens at Bradgate Park

Bradgate Park covers 830 acres of publicly accessible countryside a few miles outside Leicester. First enclosed as a deer park about 800 years ago, the Park has a wild and rugged aspect with dramatic rocky outcrops and gnarled old oak trees. Within the Park are the ruins of Bradgate House – one of the earliest brick-built country houses in England and the birthplace and childhood home of Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for Nine Days in 1553.

Creative Good was commissioned by Bradgate Park Trust to develop a temporary exhibition within the Chapel - the only portion of house still largely intact. The Chapel interior was undergoing extensive renovation and the Park wished to introduce modest interpretation into the rejuvenated space, to tell the story of the Chapel and the Grey family who built and used it. Modern interventions needed to be capable of withstanding the fluctuations in temperature and humidity of the unheated environment, and fixings into the historic fabric were to be avoided.

We developed a suite of interpretive graphics, comprising free-standing cassette stands and suspended banners, all constructed from exterior grade materials. The Chapel re-opened to the public at the end of June 2015.

Services provided by Creative Good include research, interpretive planning, copy text writing, surveying and structural engineering (to prove the viability of suspending banners from existing tie bars).