THE DESIGNERS
Haley Sharpe’s Nicky Harding and Virginia Petrie describe their design
“A
s lead designers, we were responsible for Wondrous Place, Global City and Little Liverpool
galleries, plus the atrium spaces. We also designed the flexible exhibition system. The challenge in the Wondrous Place
gallery was to convey the huge diversity of creativity in Liverpool. By exploring different concepts we came up with the idea of rip- ples throughout the city, which manifested themselves into huge, illuminated cylinders that utilise the height of the gallery. Hung high, so people look up at them, the light levels change and correspond with the show times of the two immersive theatres. They’ll look very striking at night when seen from outside through the huge windows. Global City is a much smaller gallery and
focuses on Liverpool’s trade links with the world. Little Liverpool introduces children to museums using the alphabet and objects, interactives and models. A large window dis- play engages people both looking out and looking into the building. For the exhibition system
we created a series of modu- lar cases, which can be joined together and reconfigured. We also have a series of walls and units that can have their con- tents changed.”
(right) Wondrous Place gallery celebrates Liverpool’s diversity in creativity
People’s Republic looks at the social impact of living in the city with statistics of health, deprivation, housing and educa- tional attainment. One of our challenges is that we’re living in a city that, despite being European Capital of Culture in 2008, remains one of the most deprived cities in England. The role of the museum becomes very important in terms of being open and honest, but also potentially being a sup- portive place for discussion about change. One strand of interpretation is called Our City, Our Stories. We’ve worked with community groups to develop the stories and displays. We’re also using many Liverpudlian voices throughout the museum. We’ve done a huge oral his- tory project throughout the last five years, which we’ve called 800 Lives. That first person testament is very important to us.
30 What are the key pieces?
The Liverpool Map is an iconic, glass sculp- ture and is the museum’s centrepiece. The 3D structure features many layers of sheet glass, each printed with different imagery and designs fused into a solid block depicting Liverpool as a city defined by cul- ture and heritage, rather than geographical lines. People can look through the glass structure onto the city itself. In Wondrous Place gallery we have two
immersive film theatres. The first film exam- ines the passion of being a football fan and what football means to the city – it’s an emotional film that’s projected on a large scale all around visitors and onto the floor. The second film is about The Beatles. This theatre contains the actual stage from St Peters’ Hall where John Lennon was play- ing in 1957 when he met Paul McCartney.
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(Top) the atrium’s elliptical spiral staircase leads from the ground floor up to the Skylight gallery; (above) the Lion steam locomotive, made in 1838
It’s a spine-tingling moment as it was on this stage that it all began. One of the larger artefacts is the last
remaining original carriage from the Liverpool Overhead Railway that ran along the docks from 1893 to 1956. It was the first electrified, elevated railway in the world. We also have a Lion steam locomo- tive from 1838, which ran on the Liverpool Manchester railway. It was the first timeta- bled passenger railway in the world.
What is the MoL’s design?
When you go into the building, there’s a wonderful elliptical staircase that spans
AM 2 2011 ©cybertrek 2011
Redman Design’s Sarah Bell, Becky Jarvis-Stiggants and Stephen Marsh explain their work
Detectives and Liverpool Overhead Railway. The aim of People’s Republic gallery is to
“W
give the impression that the visitor is step- ping into the city – it’s busy and densely populated with stories of people, which can be heard, read, seen and experienced. Port City tells the story of one of the
world’s first docks and houses large exhibits including the Lion steam locomotive plus an ice sculpture rising to the Timeline. We’ve taken a restrained design approach so that the objects take centre stage. The Liverpool Overhead Railway gallery,
situated above Port City, acts as a bridge between the two gallery spaces. It features an original restored railway carriage, ‘talk- ing head’ accounts from former workers and travellers, digital animations of the rail- way’s routes and film footage shot from the Overhead Railway by the Lumière brothers.”
e’re responsible for the People’s Republic gal- lery, Port City and History
Project Preview
PHOTO: ©NATIONAL MUSEUMS LIVERPOOL
PHOTO: ©NATIONAL MUSEUMS LIVERPOOL AND HALEY SHARPE DESIGN
PHOTO: ©MILLS MEDIA
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