Tandem

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

With over 3 million documents, PRONI is the only archive in the British Isles to hold such a diverse collection of official and private documents. In 2011, PRONI moved into a new purpose-built home in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. A Century of Change, Conflict and Transformation was launched to mark this event. As well as telling the story of Northern Ireland through the archive’s documents, the exhibition aimed to encourage people to think about both the purpose and future of archives.

Presented with limited room, no existing exhibition infrastructure and a modest budget, we chose the Mila wall system as the best possible solution for the space: it allowed us to divide the exhibition in a way that facilitated an optimal and logical visitor flow and maximised the available surface area for reproducing documents and images from the archive. Engagement with curatorial staff and subject specialists was critical to the success of this process. Their expertise and anecdotes about various collections added an additional dimension to PRONI’s collection and we were able to capture their information and enthusiasm in the narrative.

As the opening of the exhibition also coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz, we designed an ‘Anderson’ air-raid shelter from original plans held by PRONI. Located in the centre of the exhibition space, the shelter provided both a focal point and a resting point for visitors. Images of the Blitz were projected onto the floor while audio reminiscence played within the space. The shelter also made tangible for visitors the connection between the documents in PRONI and the lives of people in the past.

Additional content and focus was supplied through the use of audio-visual and interactive components throughout the space. As in the design of the exhibition, we were keen that the touchscreens would give visitors a sense of the discovery that can take place in an archive. While the touchscreens were single-touch, they were designed in such a way as to encourage group interaction, giving visitors the opportunity for interpersonal learning.

Scope

Content Mapping &
Conceptual Framework

Scripting, Copywriting
& Proofing

Image Research,
Cataloguing & Selection

Touch Screen Design
& Programming (AV Content)

Spatial Design
& Visitor Flow

Interpretive Design

Object Selection, Display
Arrangement & Captioning

Research and Writing
of Educational Material
for use on site