On leaving college in 1991, in the September I was offered a 12 month contract at Eureka! leading up to its opening in July 1992. There was a lot of work to do but it was a great experience. Eureka! was the very first fully interactive museum in the country and it was an honour to be part of the team that helped in its delivery.
EUREKA! THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
ARCHIVE / FROM THE VAULT
Having been working in this industry since 1991, and over the years I've worked on a vast array of projects, some of which I don't have any physical record of them. Here are a few where I still have managed to find some record and thought I'd share them with you.
ESCAPE ROOMS - ESCAPE HUNT
This work was offered to me by Escape Hunt (https://www.escapehunt.com/) and took place during early 2020 - 21. It involved the design of two new concepts for the Aladdin and the Nautilus.
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HAMLEYS PLAY - JIO WORLD DRIVE - MUMBAI
This work was for Cod Steaks (https://www.codsteaks.com/) and took place during early 2020. We were asked by the new Hamley's clients for a new concept for a new play zone in Hamleys in Mumbai.
EGYPTIAN GALLERY - WORLD MUSEUM - LIVERPOOL
This work was the detail design for the production of the setworks for the exhibition. The design was provided by Liverpool Museums design dept.
LABYRYNTH - MIRROR MAZE - ISTANBUL
I have done 3 mirror mazes, the first at Alnwick Castle, this one photographed at the Istanbul Aquarium and the third at Athens Xplore.
ENTRANCE FEATURE - ISTANBUL AQUARIUM
Soon after the Istanbul Aquarium was opened, an adjoining shopping mall was built. Towards the end of the build, I was asked to design a feature entrance which linked the shopping mall to the aquarium. I wanted to create a deep blue passage way between the two buildings that took its form from an abstract shell form. The work took place in 2012.
MISSION ACTIVE FUTURE - EUREKA, THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
Sponsored with a grant from Sport England, the exhibition was housed in a 40' trailer which travelled the schools of Yorkshire and the north of England to promote activity and well being to the region's young. Seb Coe said at the time it was the most exciting and exciting initiative he had seen in the previous 10 years. The work took place in 2005.
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CHAMPIONS COLLECTION SHOWCASE - WEST HAM FC MUSEUM
Every once in a while, I get chance to work on a project that thrills me to the bones, this was one of them. Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters were my footballing heroes in the late 60's and early 70's and was thrilled to be given the task of designing, producing and dressing this showcase that housed the newly acquired collection of trophies and artifacts that had belonged to these football icons. The work took place in 2002.
The World up Winners medals of Martin Peters MBE, Sir Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore OBE
VERULAMIUM MUSEUM - St ALBANS
The Introductory Gallery at the Verulamium Museum was part of a £1.5million extension that was funded by the HLF in 1998. The clients wanted to keep the form simple so that the exhibits took centre stage.
SEGAWORLD - TROCADERO - PICCADILLY CIRCUS LONDON
SegaWorld London was a seven-floor indoor amusement theme park housed in the Trocadero, Piccadilly Circus. This work was the rationalization of the existing design and the production of the detail drawings for the construction of the setworks.
HUNTERS & THE HUNTED - YORKSHIRE MUSEUM
The exhibition that was created in 1996 at the Yorkshire Museum transported visitors back 190 million years to the Jurassic era, showcasing a stunning collection of fossilized sea creatures in an immersive themed environment.
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE - NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM
This 1995 exhibition was created at the National Railway Museum in York to commemorate the 50th birthday of the stories written by Rev. Wilbert Awdry. The main theme of the exhibition was to tell the facts behind the fiction, within all the stories.
WATERWAYS MUSEUM - GOOLE
The Waterways Museum was completed in 1994 and details the birth and development of the port of Goole. It accounts how an area of marshy land was transformed into a successful port which imported and exported goods around the world.
TV HEAVEN - NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY, FILM & TELEVISION (now National Media Museum)
TV Heaven was a video access gallery set within the old NMPFT, which opened in 1993. It was a place where long before Netflix etc where tv programs from yesteryear could be viewed. The brief indicated that it should have a games arcade feel but still have private viewing areas for research.
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BOOK TOWER - EUREKA! THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
The Book Tower opened at Eureka! in 1994. It was sponsored b the Daily Telegraph and used to launch Children's Book Week that year. The tower allowed children to access 2,000 books in its core an still maintain an area of 11 sq. metres.
COMMUNICATIONS GALLERY
My first role at Eureka! the design and overseeing of all the activities for the Communications Gallery. The gallery was funded by BT and was to give the visitors an interactive insight into communications. Integrated into the design was the first ever video phone, nowadays the new version of it is used by Facetime and other platforms.
FACTORY AREA
I also had to work up the factory area, where there was going to be a production line area where the visitors had to make a briefcase, using industrial based equipment. Other responsibilities in the factory was the overseeing of the Nonsense Machine and the Carton Making Machine.
GARAGE AREA
The concept for the area and the cars were created by Lionel Dean, however I was asked to assist in this area to design and oversee the manufacture and installation of the interactives.
TV STUDIO
I worked with YTV on the TV studio, as they sponsored the area. Here I created the news desk and other pieces of hardware used within the space.
ROOM - HULL
Prior to leaving design college I was given the opportunity to help local club and bar owners Rob and Dave Mays in the design of some of their venues in Hull. Room was one of them that opened in 1991. Inspiration was taken from Manchester's Dry 201 and Haçienda. The Hull Daily Mail states "Room was the place to be for the cool kids during the nineties".
