Museum refurbishment

Bettyhill, Caithness

Strathnaver Museum, situated on the north coast of Scotland, tells the social history of the area, including the impact of the Highland Clearances. It is also home to the Clan Mackay Centre. Abound worked closely with the museum team to develop a successful NLHF Round 2 funding application through to successful implementation. The project has refurbished the former church building and added a new annex; transforming the previously congested exhibition spaces with imagination and drama.

Abound’s role was to help the museum envision how their interpretation plan could be realised within the available spaces. The new displays address the needs of the museum’s audience, which includes local residents and visitors on Scotland’s famous North Coast 500 route.

The new thematic displays, incorporating digital media and immersive audio, draw visitors into the story, while giving them a sense of what life was like in this remarkable area of the country. Our stakeholder consultation suggested a desire not to lose all of the charm of the existing displays in meeting modern display requirements. We have therefore sought to do this by incorporating some elements of the existing displays into the new exhibition.