National Trust for Scotland, Hill House
The Mackintosh Experience
Blending Scottish Baronial tradition with early modernism, Hill House in Helensburgh is a design icon. In 1902, publisher Walter Blackie gave Charles Rennie Mackintosh free rein to design a family home where every room had its own identity. Our challenge was to bring three unused rooms to life for the visitor through sound, film and interactive activities.
SERVICES
AUDIO TOURS
AUDIO PRODUCTION
COLLABORATION
BESPOKE DESIGN
FAMILY TOURS
AV DESIGN
In the Guest Dressing Room, we produced an immersive audio soundscape, mixing quotations, Blackie family memories and Mackintosh’s letters, Margaret McDonald’s writings, poetry and authentic period music to give visitors a sense of the strong relationship between both families.
The old Guest Bedroom became a canvas for some spectacular projections, with bespoke AV content and Mackintosh-inspired furniture to house the projector and provide seating for the visitor. Vivid visuals immerse visitors in the story of Charles Rennie Mackintosh at Hill House and beyond.
In the old Day Nursery, play became storytelling through shared activity and games. Drawing on extensive research from the German Games Archive and Pollock’s Toy Museum, we created an Edwardian inspired games table featuring a reimagined version of the board game ‘Ups and Downs’.
We also reinvented an Edwardian classic – the Card House – with forty durable cards, each carrying an image on one side and a fact or quotation on the other, all using our own original illustrations. As families build their structures, they also uncover the stories of the house and its inhabitants.
Today, visitors can sit and play, and discover Hill House just as the Blackie children once did – a fun, hands-on way to connect with history.
“The Imagineear team were amazing to work with. They were quick to grasp the artistic essence of the house and brought so much creativity to the project.”
Emma Inglis,
Curator (South & West) for The National Trust for Scotland
For further information on this project or to find out how Imagineear can bring your exhibition or cultural experience to life please contact:
Petra Brinkhof
SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR
petrabrinkhof@imagineear.com
