Interpretation Planning
Slieve Gullion Forest Park Scoping Study
Newry, Mourne & Down District Council
“The Park is associated with a number of legends... we developed initial concepts that demonstrated how this theme could be used to engage and entertain visitors with an experience that would encourage return visits. ”
The Slieve Gullion Forest Park is the focal point of the Ring of Gullion, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Tandem were tasked to develop a scoping study that would lead to a portfolio of solutions for enhanced interpretation across the Park.
Our role as interpretive planner included reviewing existing site-wide interpretation. Our study assessed what currently works, what doesn’t work and where there are areas for improvement.
The Park is associated with a number of legends which provided compelling themes for interpretation with the site’s unique archaeological heritage revealing further intriguing stories. We developed initial concepts that demonstrated how the legend theme could be used to engage and entertain visitors with an experience that would encourage return visits.
The study identified key audiences and significant stories, and proposed initial suggestions for interpretive interventions, which included sculptural elements, interactivity and audio posts, in addition to conventional outdoor media such as interpretation panels.
Opportunities to join up currently separate areas of the site were highlighted with proposed interpretation that would carry key themes and suggested content across the whole site.
The scoping study enabled us to ‘think big’ and provide the client team with effective and achievable concepts along with a high-level cost plan to support the client’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) funding application.
Funding was successfully secured in 2020 and the project is currently being developed through to delivery within 2021.