Kielder Water & Forest Park

Northumberland

Following on from a successful project, in 2014, to create Dark Skies interpretation at Tower Knowe and Kielder Castle visitor centres, Abound were appointed to further enhance the visitor experience at Tower Knowe. Our brief was to contribute to a wider project titled ‘Living Wild at Kielder’, with the refurbishment of the welcome area and core exhibition at the park’s gateway site.

The NLHF-supported programme’s aim was to reconnect people with nature providing them with high quality information to enhance their appreciation of the importance of plants and wildlife to be found within the Park. It also strived to increase environmental awareness, while developing new skills and bringing economic benefits to the community.

With our project partners we conducted a workshop with multiple stakeholders, and liaised with an access consultant to make the exhibition enjoyable and accessible to all.

The welcome area featured ‘big facts’ to help visitors appreciate how special the park is. A large-scale forest relief and soundscape, were designed to emphasise that the forest is teaming with wildlife and that visitors just need to stay alert to spot it. Along side app suggestions, an interactive map was designed to help visitors quickly identify the activities on offer, for them to enjoy.

In the main exhibition area we created four family-orientated, wildlife-themed, hands-on pods. We also researched content for, and designed, over 15m of eye-catching graphic wallpaper, exploring what the park has to offer throughout the year. 

In addition to a small AV theatre, we employed digital media to create an iPad-based, forest management game, and a digital art and architecture brochure.