North Hertfordshire Museum
North Hertfordshire Museum is next door to the refurbished Town Hall in Brand Street, Hitchin, which displays collections relating to local history and heritage. Arranged over two floors, it comprises an entrance, shop and café, three galleries of permanent displays focusing mostly on the history of North Hertfordshire district, a temporary exhibitions gallery with a changing and varied programme, and a smaller display space in the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
The museum has three galleries containing permanent exhibitions – Discovering North Herts, Living in North Herts and The Terrace Gallery – and two temporary exhibition spaces. The permanent displays focus on the history of the district, from 90 million years ago, through the arrival of the first people and the gradual transformation of the landscape to the present day. There are displays about different characters who have lived in the area, how people lived in the past and the animals found in local gardens. Two temporary exhibition spaces have a varied programme of displays. The project is generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
client North Hertfordshire Museum role Head of design at Nicholasalexander Ltd
services provided 3D Design, engineering and fabrication
location Hitchin, England
Nicholas Alexander Ltd fitted out the museum with Corian clad joinery, to house a number of display cases and exhibits. The internal structures and Corian cladding were all 3D CAD modeled by our in house design team and pre fabricated in our workshop to be taken to site for installation. Also, fabricated were a range of complex interactive exhibits and their intricate internal mechanisms. These interactive mechanisms performed a range of exciting processes for members of the public to engage with.
Some of these included:
Biggin House: The most complicated dolls house in the world! The house itself is a Corian model of Biggin House, in North Herts. Inside is a Pepper’s Ghost illusion, which comprises of an angled piece of special glass with holographic projection film, and a screen above. Behind that is a drum which rotates, and is split into four sections. Each section is a different room set, which represents a different period in history. When the lever is pulled, a scene is played out, and each time the lever is pulled after that causes the drum to spin round and play the next scene.
Pharmacy: A large pharmacy counter which lit up different sections of the human body and remedy’s when users triggered certain objects or opened the drawers.
Matching Pairs: To explain the Etymology of some of the place names in North Herts, we created a matching pairs game. Featuring two spinning Acylic drums, when the icons that match are lined up, it lights a graphic tile. This one is totally electro-mechanical, using roller microswitches and simple electronics. That’s what gives it it’s satisfying tactile quality, as well as being very reliable.
Monkey on a trike: This little guy is pedalling along an infinite road, but somehow, just keeps happily going. Of all the interactives we’ve built, this was the simplest in conception and execution but gets a great reaction from everyone who plays with it.
