Tandem

Interpretative Fit-out for
Restored Ulster Hall

The ‘people’s music venue’, now affectionately known as the ‘Grand Dame’, is without doubt one of Belfast’s key heritage assets and the site of major political and entertainment landmarks that have shaped the city’s cultural identity. With an £8.5m refurbishment underway, Tandem was brought in to tie the separate strands of many varied stories together into a unified interpretative experience.

The Ulster Hall is still a working building so we decided that an audio tour, narrated by the Grand Dame herself, was the best way to tell the seven key stories without physically encroaching on the building. We designed a listening point for each story, featuring a short narrative and listing the other tours available to encourage visitors to delve deeper into the building’s many other fascinating facets.

Designing the space for the newly restored JW Carey paintings, valued at £850,000, proved to be one of the project’s more challenging aspects. We worked closely alongside the council’s heritage officer, the architects and the builders to appropriately present, conserve, display and interpret these valuable works of art.

Scope

Interpretative consultation,
design and art direction

Researching and defining
the key stories, scripting
and copywriting

Researching and sourcing
of all images

Reporting to stakeholders,
liaising with architects and builders

Production of audio tours

Managing the project, budget
and multiple sub-contractors