SHREWSBURY FLAXMILL & MALTING

LOCATION FILMING / VISUAL-FX / 3D MODELLING / INTERVIEW FILMS / HYBRID INTERACTIVES / FILM & SOUND EDITING / ARCHIVE EDITING / MOTION GRAPHICS / ANIMATION / COLOURING / TOUCH PROGRAMMING / SOUND DESIGN / ORAL TESTIMONY / IMMERSIVE FILM PROJECTIONS / END-SHOW

GLOBAL IMPACT & COMMUNITY SOUL

Dating back to 1797, Shrewsbury Flaxmill & Maltings is an internationally significant ‘first in the World’ building, as it paved the way for skyscrapers across the planet.

AY-PE were part of a £20.7 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, for the restoration and reinterpretation of the Mill, working alongside exhibition designers Mather & Co as well as Historic England, conservation experts, museum volunteers and the Shrewsbury community collaborators and volunteers.

The eleven audio-visual pieces created, focus on different aspects of the site’s evolution - attempting to give equal footing to the story of the site's structural innovation and purpose, as well as to the people, communities, skills, stories and emotions involved in its history.

Client: Historic England & Mather & Co

Exhibition Design: Mather & Co

Hardware: Fusion LX

EXPLORE THE MILL

Huge historical and local events were symbolised by the people and changes within the Mill. Digital artistry brings this ‘long disappeared’ history to life.

Working closely with client, set (Aivaf) and AV hardware, we designed a large 3D mill model experience so visitors can select and see various histories affecting the Mill. This plays out on hidden screens in 3D real-time, where people and sequences, almost like ‘living dolls’, move within a physical 3 x 1 metre Mill structure. This unique, magical sneak peak into the Mill shows six different time periods, with a nearby interactive screen giving the visitor control and context.

Image: Credit Mather & Co

ARTISTIC CONTEXT

The Mill floor was once covered in malt - the grain being a vital part of the local economy and workforce. Maltings Floor AV tells this story. Involving R&D testing of font, colouring and flow, we designed a looping projection show of archive, new animation and motion typography which successfully appears in the malt grain covered floor. Contextual storytelling through digital artistry.

PEOPLE & PLACES

A variety of new films, interviews and interactives were created from on-location film shoots, existing footage and archive, all to tell the past, present and future stories of those supported by, driven by or inspired by the Mill.

Soundscapes and audio edits also support the galleries, ranging from edited oral testimony points, to sensory soundscapes of barley and flax bending in the summer breeze.

EVOLUTIONARY END

The end show is a multisensory AV experience, projected across metres of wall in the old Engine House. Working with dramatic lighting and new walkways, AY-PE devised a 4 minute immersive film, summarising the history of the site in a sensory and contemporary way. We utilised the sensation of constant movement felt in the other AVs - drawing the visitor through an artistic, painterly style journey of what they have seen. A bespoke sound composition picks out key iconic sounds: from loom shuttles to WWII air raids, evocatively connecting the audience to the life and fabric of the building.