The world’s largest museum needed a large team to develop it and I was pleased to play a small part! Detailed exhibit interpretation briefs to inform the design of a selection of exhibits and galleries within the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center in Kuwait City – which opened in Spring 2018, becoming one of the largest museum complexes in the world. Working for the design team at Cultural Innovations, briefs were delivered encompassing content as diverse as Arabian wildlife, biodiversity, tropical ecosystems, extreme ecosystems, prehistoric life, our place in nature, our dynamic earth, transport and the history of flight – providing a review of existing content, adding detailed content and visitor outcomes for exhibits, providing direction for image selection and model poses for the graphic and interpretation design. During the latter stages of fabrication, visits to multiple contractors were also undertaken with Design PM to ensure the standards of quality and detail met the brief and to supervise video recording and animation for interactive exhibits.

Having previously worked with the team on the live animal and plant specifications for the large living Ecosystems gallery, when employed by WWT Consulting, it was great to continue this working relationship and assist in the continuing development of this exciting project and see it through to completion. Even more thrilling to see that Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, visited the centre and is pictured here in front of the large coral reef display in the Ecosystems gallery, the design of which I advised on.

Enjoy this advert for the centre on YouTube which gives some idea of the scope of the centre:

 

and take a peek inside the Ecosystems gallery in the Natural History Museum here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL23JTuEqHo&feature=youtu.be

or take a 16-minute tour through some of the main museum galleries here: https://youtu.be/YAias6XoByI

Building design and construction: SSH