The Amelia Scott, Tunbridge Wells

SHORTLISTED FOR PERMANENT EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR 2023 MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE AWARD

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Nicky Carter, Director of Culture, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council said “I would highly recommend Metaphor as a wonderful partner to work with. They are creative, innovative and really work to understand what the client wants, as well as helping them understand what will work for their project.”

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The Amelia unites the Museum and Art Gallery, Library, Adult Education, TWBC Customer Services and Tourist Information Centre in Tunbridge Wells to create an exciting, transformative visitor experience.

Metaphor re-categorised the services of the Hub into four zones based on the type of offer they will provide a visitor to the Hub, the varying moods and needs of the different audience groups will be better met. We determined how best to split the functions of the Hub to create an intuitive visitor journey and overall experience.

The Amelia experience was developed through extensive public consultation. The necessity of appealing to broad audiences guided the interpretation at every stage. Our main method of achieving this was through active engagement. Interactivity, active ‘discovery’, and multi-sensory interpretation means visitors ‘do’ as much as they ‘see’ and create their own meaning from the information presented.

Metaphor has been instrumental in helping the Hub secure £4.5m of HLF funding and £1m of ACE funding to help the Council achieve their vision.

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