Archive for April 2010

Porthcurno Telegraph Museum


From 1870 to 1970 Porthcurno was the hub of international cable communications. During World War II Cornish miners dug secret tunnels to house the entire telegraph operations underground in order to secure them from enemy attack. The centre was subsequently classified as a heritage site and granted lottery funding to enable the tunnels to be restored and converted into a museum, part of which houses the Cable & Wireless collection of historical communication equipment.

We were the lead consultants providing concepts, feasibility study and fundraising presentation followed by design of gallery, exhibition layout, display structures and showcases, interactive design, and graphics. We then provided the 3D detail package, tender documentation, project management, cost control, risk assessment and health and safety and supervision of production and installation.

Friday 30 April 2010 | Posted in , , | 0 Comments

The Refinery

The Refinery is London’s premier one-stop grooming emporium for men. Barbering, skincare and treatments are available in its two retreats in Mayfair and in Harrods in Knightsbridge. Combining the comfort and atmosphere of a gentleman’s club with the vitality and sense of well being of a health spa, The Refinery provides an environment for relaxing, unwinding and revitalising.

Minale Tattersfield created the name and the identity and designed the interior for the original premises in Mayfair. The materials used were natural and traditional but given a contemporary twist. Dark oak doors, marble floors, granite tiling and stone coloured grey or deep blue walls work together to create a space which is stylish and luxurious.

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Imperial War Museum

The Museum has the difficult task of shedding light on the grim art of war while avoiding being seen to celebrate it. Minale Tattersfield was commissioned to create a new identity for the Museum which would convey its purpose while taking account of the wider considerations.

A symbol was created which incorporates the initials W and M in the form of searchlights against a background of land, sea and sky. This identity is not only implemented across murals, promotional literature and posters but is also modified for special events such as VE and VJ day.

Signs were designed for different parts of the museum such as the shop and café and a wayfinding system was developed. We also designed a suite of literature and produced a guidelines manual to ensure the identity was applied correctly throughout.

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Royal Armouries Museum

Minale Tattersfield designed the visual identity and the signage for the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. The identity is based on the horned helmet , the remains of a suit of armour belonging to Henry VIII.

Visitors are directed around the galleries by huge banners hanging from the very high ceilings to the floor and ranging along the length of the internal street. Directions are in the form of gigantic open books made of laminated beech and standing on a tripod inspired by Renaissance carpentry.

We also designed a suite of literature and produced a guidelines manual to ensure the identity was applied correctly and consistently throughout.

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British Museum – Parthenon Gallery

Our senior designer Graham Simpson left Minale Tattersfield in 1993 to work full time as an exhibition designer at the British Museum and worked there for five years. He later rejoined Minale Tattersfield where he now leads our team of interior designers. Graham says, “Working for one of the world’s major museums  for five years has added immeasurably experience in the processes and management skills required when working with priceless works of art and cultural heritage”.

In the following major exhibition Graham and his team designed the layout, the interior architecture, the showcases and the displays.

The Parthenon Gallery comprises two separate rooms providing an introduction to the Parthenon. One room displays original stone fragments with an AV presentation on the construction methods including a realistic walk-through of the interior. There is a full size reconstruction of one corner of the Parthenon, using one of the original stone columns. 

The second room is specially designed to accommodate disabled visitors, employing a number of hands on sensory experiences to explain the design of the frieze and the building’s decorative details. A special graphic system was developed to provide visually impaired visitors the opportunity to understand the detail of the perimeter frieze, parts of which they can touch. 

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British Museum – Greek Bronze Age

During the early part of the Greek Bronze Age, the people of the Aegean islands known as the Cyclades began to produce items made from copper, silver, lead and fine white marble.

The Mycenaean period of the later Greek Bronze Age was viewed by the Greeks as the 'age of heroes' and perhaps provides the historical background to many of the stories told in later Greek mythology, including Homer's epics.

We designed the layout of the gallery chronologically to enable the visitor to travel through 1700 years of early Greek history. For the interior architecture we used natural stone for the floors and plinths to reflect the building materials used in the great palaces and civic architecture. We designed the showcases to display the pottery, bronzes and stone vases of the period.

Thursday 29 April 2010 | Posted in , , | 0 Comments

British Museum – Mysteries of Ancient China

In the following major exhibition for Mysteriers of Ancient China, Graham Simpson, Minale Tattersfiled's senior exhibition designer created and designed the layout, the interior architecture, the showcases and the displays. This was The British Museum’s largest and most successful exhibition since Tutankhamen and achieved critical acclaim and a Design Week Award.

The unique collection of recent tomb discoveries, ranging from small pieces of jewellery to large bronze and terracotta castings, were being shown outside China for the first time. The exhibition covered the period from about 5000BC to the end of the Han Dynasty in 200AD.

Traditional Chinese architecture linking public and private space with courtyards and openings in structures influenced the orientation of the layout and the design, enhancing the visitor’s appreciation of the objects on show. 

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British Museum - Vases & Volcanoes

In the following major exhibition for The Britsh Museum, Minale Tattersfield's exhibition designers created and designed the layout, the interior architecture, the showcases and the displays for the private collection of Sir William Hamilton.

Sir William Hamilton’s collection, was formed whilst he was the ambassador in Naples during the 18th century. The collection included objects from the ancient past, Greek and Roman, as well as natural specimens from the slopes of Mt Vesuvius. The exhibition bought together this substantial collection as a celebration of the period and the life and times of Sir William.

The visitor was transported back into the period of the 'Grand Tour' with the staging of the exihibition in a setting of 18th century interior design, using architectural forms, detailing and colours evocative of the period.

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