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Bright 3D develops Killarney House & Gardens ‘gateway’ to enhance visitor experience

Killarney National Park possesses a unique combination of landscape, flora and fauna, heritage, architecture, and a varied collection. The team at Bright 3D has now conducted a new exhibition project to tell the story of this landscape and its people in the best possible way

Bright has developed 18 exhibition spaces at Killarney that introduce visitors to Ireland’s first and largest National Park alongside broader subjects such as biodiversity and conservation.  A new brand was designed and brought together iconic features of the National Park including species and iconic locations into one brand marque. This then permeated throughout the exhibition and gardens to reinforce the new offer.

 

Collaboration with the specialist team at the National Parks & Wildlife Service on the ground was crucial to ensuring the communication of the complex and extensive work going on within the Park.

The exhibition forms a ‘Gateway’ experience to Killarney National Park. It seeks to educate and encourage exploration and participation creating a link between the tangible and intangible heritage of the site. Inhabiting 18 rooms within Killarney house, it is designed to offer visitors a multitude of experiences, creating an ebb and flow through the spaces so that every room offers something to explore.

Collaboration with the specialist team at the National Parks & Wildlife Service on the ground was crucial to ensuring the communication of the complex and extensive work going on within the Park.

The exhibition forms a ‘Gateway’ experience to Killarney National Park. It seeks to educate and encourage exploration and participation creating a link between the tangible and intangible heritage of the site. Inhabiting 18 rooms within Killarney house, it is designed to offer visitors a multitude of experiences, creating an ebb and flow through the spaces so that every room offers something to explore.

It was an exciting opportunity for the team to re-highlight the iconic species, crucial issues, rich past and undeniable beauty of the park. It also offered the chance to give visitors deeper access and insight into the stories so that the Park could be held up as a leading centre for natural heritage interpretation and provide the perfect inspiration and spring board for visitors to ‘get out there and explore for themselves’.

Creative highlights include a number of atmospheric and immersive spaces including an abstract representation of the different woodlands in the park, a multiscreen projection mapped film exploring the importance of water and a corridor that takes visitors through a tangled menace of Rhododendron that is killing local flora.

The exhibition also includes a large amount of commissioned content that enriches the interpretation. Bespoke branding and illustration link all media together from interactive touchscreen games to illustrated maps. Illustration was also used to bring to life characters from the Parks history as well as convey concepts such as biodiversity and the conservation work.

Three different photographers were tasked with capturing the landscape and the people who live and work in the park. The National Parks & Wildlife Service also worked with several film makers and digital content developers to create audio visual content including drone footage, CGI landscape recreation and interactive game development as well as the creative use of interview, archive and wildlife footage.

The heritage of the building and was also supported through the interior finishes and furniture design including recreations of the Victorian Naturalists study and commissioned bespoke oak benches from a contemporary Irish Furniture .

Further natural heritage and character interpretation was also implemented through the restored gardens, though a suite of bespoke signage.