The Gobbins

We wanted The Gobbins to be accessible to the widest range of people, including but not limited to visitors from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, specialist groups, and visitors from overseas.

We knew that the dynamism and uniqueness of The Gobbins should be experienced by all visitors, whether or not they walk the paths themselves. We took care to convey the history, ecology and geology of path in a variety of exciting and inspiring ways. 

One of our first tasks for this project, was to define the stories to be told. Our interpretive planners worked with the client and other stakeholders to identify the key topics and themes for interpretation. The client identified
the focus as the history, geology and ecology of The Gobbins, placing an emphasis on the importance of the interpretation to appeal to both locals
and visitors.

Tandem considered the interpretation in a holistic way – planning and designing various methods of interpretation
to be layered throughout the visitor journey.

Having agreed the high-level visitor route across the site, and based on
our initial research phase, we assigned themes and sub-themes to distinct areas and began to develop our scheme design and layout. This involved sketching structures and mapping themes and delivery mechanisms. 

The open-plan nature of the indoor space lent itself to a free-flowing exhibition, which could be enjoyed either before or after the visitor had completed the coastal walk.

The double-height ceiling in the main space provided a fantastic opportunity to create a visually striking installation evoking the vertiginous scale of the cliff face. Large areas of wall space were available for the application of both graphic & multimedia elements on which we incorporated large-scale images and design features.

A visit to The Gobbins should excite and exhilarate, connecting all people to the dynamism of
this unique site.