20/20 helps launch National Trust visitor centre
Falmouth based multi-disciplinary design and build company 20/20 has helped launch a new visitor centre for the National Trust at East Pool Mine.
The new centre aims to encourage visitors to better-understand Cornwalls rich mining history.
Waymarkers, models of the site and interpretation, encourage visitors to explore the whole site and orientate people around the industrial heritage remains, helping them visualise how things would have looked in the 1930s as a working mine, said Dave Tonkin who led the design team for 20/20.
We have designed and installed interactive features so people can get a real understanding of scientific and engineering principles. For example, there are large scale models of the two engines that people can experiment with, showing the difference between winding and pumping engines. It was great to see all of this coming into play at the official opening, the visitors really got involved.
A 6 metre by 3 metre black and white photo montage shows the industrial landscape of the Carn Brea district in 1894 and with a dressing up box, visitors are able to see and feel the years of history.
We have tried to keep the written information on the displays as light as possible the exhibition pieces themselves and the hands on exploration are the main attraction, explained Tonkin.
In-depth books are then strategically placed so that visitors can find out more about topics of particular interest.
Funded by a European Union and Defra grant through the Rural Development Programme for England, the newly developed visitor centre was officially unveiled to the public on Tuesday 10th May, when entry was free to encourage visitors to engage with the exhibitions and find out more about how the site worked.
Cornish design and build company 20/20 won a competitive tender process to improve the East Pool Mine visitor experience and the way that people journey through the site as part of Discover The Extraordinary a three year programme of investments across Cornwall and Devon developed by the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site to enhance visitor experiences.
The East Pool complex is the latest in 20/20s vast portfolio of leisure and visitor centre projects which include the National Trusts Coleton Fishacre site, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Dartmouth Museum, Living Coasts, Rannock Visitor Centre, BT Goonhilly and St Austell Brewery.