NATIONAL Telling the story of the Royal Navy and its people MUSEUM in the 20th & 21st Centuries OF THE ROYAL NAVY Storehouse 10: New Galleries Project: Exhibition Design Report JULY 2011 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY Telling the story of the Royal Navy and its people in the 20th & 21st Centuries Storehouse 10: New Galleries Project: Exhibition Design Report 2 EXHIBITION DESIGN REPORT Contents Contents 1.0 Executive Summary 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Vision, Goal and Mission 2.2 Strategic Context 2.3 Exhibition Objectives 3.0 Design Brief 3.1 Interpretation Strategy 3.2 Target Audiences 3.3 Learning & Participation 3.4 Exhibition Themes 3.5 Special Exhibition Gallery 3.6 Content Detail 4.0 Design Proposals 4.1 Gallery Plan 4.2 Gallery Plan: Visitor Circulation 4.3 Gallery Plan: Media Distribution 4.4 Isometric View 4.5 Finishes 5.0 The Visitor Experience 5.1 Visuals of the Gallery 5.2 Accessibility 6.0 Consultation & Participation EXHIBITION DESIGN REPORT 3 Ratings from HMS Sphinx. In the back row, second left, is Able Seaman Joseph Chidwick who first spotted 6 Africans floating on an upturned tree, after they had escaped from a slave trader on the coast. The Navy’s impact has been felt around the world, in peace as well as war. Here, the ship’s Carpenter on HMS Sphinx sets an enslaved African free following his escape from a slave trader in The slave trader following his capture by a party of Royal Marines and seamen. the Persian Gulf, 1907. 4 EXHIBITION DESIGN REPORT 1.0 Executive Summary 1.0 Executive Summary Enabling people to learn, enjoy and engage with the story of the Royal Navy and understand its impact in making the modern world. NMRN Mission Statement 2010 Since 1900 the Royal Navy has continued to shape the perspectives and multiple voices and interpretation, modern world. It has directly touched the lives of millions maximizing the gallery’s potential as a springboard for a whole of naval personnel; it has affected families and the wider range of activity. Immersive, experiential and object rich communities who built, serviced and supplied the Navy’s environments will engage visitors with the history of the Royal ships; the lives of communities across the world have been Navy in the 20th century. Through the experiences, triumphs, influenced by the Navy. Yet, despite this rich history, and the achievements and sacrifice of its servicemen and women Navy’s profound impact on national and international life, they will convey a challenging story of the Navy’s continued there is no single exhibition in the country (including in the international reach and global influence in times of war and in long established national museums) to examine and share this times of peace. story. This project by the National Museum of the Royal Navy ‘The fear was a sort of cold fear. (NMRN) will develop, at its headquarters in Portsmouth, over 900m2 of high quality display space to tell this history. For the That if you were in the mess-deck first time visitors will be able to understand the story of the and you heard this ping, you can Royal Navy, and the achievements of its personnel, during this period of unprecedented change and challenge. hear the water rushing past the This story has been untold for too long. The development vessel, and you realize that there work and detailed design is complete and we seek the funding was just, was it a 1/4 inch, 1/8 now to deliver the project, so that the permanent galleries and the special exhibition space will be open in early 2014. inch, very thin bit of steel between This will allow the Museum to take a full part in the national commemoration of the First World War in that year, and in you and whatever.’ anniversary events up to 2018. John Arthur, Commission Warrant Candidate, 1942, Battle of the Atlantic What distinguishes the period since 1900 is ‘people’. This applies in terms of numbers since it was the 20th century which saw the creation of a mass Navy during both World Wars. It also applies to the ability to recover the experiences of people in their own words and own voices from the Museum’s collection. For this reason people’s stories will be at the heart of the interpretation – just as people are at the heart of planning greater learning and participation in the project as a whole. These design proposals will deliver the creation of new ‘You were a family. I noticed a big difference when I came outside and worked ashore.’ imaginative and innovative exhibitions. They will present a Seaman Frederick Jenkins, pictured back row, first left and the crew of HMT Finesse c.1944 complex and vivid history through a combination of alternative EXHIBITION DESIGN REPORT 5 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Vision, Goal and Mission 2.2 Strategic Context In September 2009 the National Museum of the Royal Navy Since 1900 the Royal Navy has continued to shape the Museum by extending its coverage and linking new exhibitions (NMRN) published its strategy and development priorities. modern world. It has directly touched the lives of the millions to the existing ‘Sailing Navy Gallery’. This project and these exhibition plans are essential to deliver of naval personnel who made great sacrifices and faced great our vision, goal and mission. challenges. It has affected families and the wider communities These exhibitions will be the first opportunity to display who built, serviced and supplied the Navy’s ships. The lives of and interpret properly the Museum’s nationally significant NMRN’s vision is: communities across the world have been influenced by the collections. They will build on successful learning, virtual To be the world’s most respected naval museum Navy - often in ways that people are not aware of. The Navy’s and temporary exhibitions which have been based on the underpinned by a spirit of enterprise and adventure. history in the 20th and 21st centuries has been marked by collections, and have done much to develop audiences for this complexity, diversity and scale. It has been transformed by history. They will also create the opportunity to feature key Our goal is: great technological and social change and has adapted to the loans from national partner collections where they are not on To promote public understanding of the Royal Navy and demands of a changing world. permanent display; loan partners will include the Imperial War its constituent branches, past, present and future. Museum, National Maritime Museum, Tate Britain and the Yet, despite this rich history, and the Navy’s profound impact MoD Art Collection. Our mission is: on national and indeed international life, there is no single To be a beacon of excellence in enabling people to exhibition in the country (including in the long established The Museum is well-placed to connect this story with a learn, enjoy and engage with the story of the Royal national museums) in which visitors can examine and share wide range of audiences, from local families to domestic and Navy and understand its impact in making the modern in this story. Audience research shows that this lack of foreign visitors staying in the region. The Museum is located world. interpretation is felt keenly by current visitors to the Museum; within Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, an important regional it also shows there is very strong support for the exhibition tourist attraction which welcomes over 400,000 visitors a This project will see the creation of new exhibitions telling proposals from non-visitors. These plans will create the year. Portsmouth is the home of the Navy and yet the Historic the history of the Royal Navy since 1900 and the key role it exhibition which fills this gap and, by developing the ground Dockyard currently lacks any coverage of the history of the has played in shaping our modern world. Nowhere else will floor of a Georgian naval storehouse, will create just over 20th century. The exhibitions will help visitors to understand Welcome home. Roger Fish greets his wife Pat after a long visitors be able to understand the story of the Royal Navy 900m2 of high quality display space to tell this story. this dramatic century, make links to earlier periods, and so spell at sea. and the achievements of its personnel during a period of help them understand the historic ships like the ironclad HMS unprecedented change and challenge. Until the NMRN was launched in September 2009, the Navy Warrior (1860) and Monitor M33 (1915) as part of a longer was the only one of the armed services without its own history. The 200m2 special exhibition gallery will be a major The permanent galleries and the special exhibition space will national museum. The NMRN was created to draw together asset, providing a high standard flexible display area which be open in early 2014. This will allow the Museum to take the existing Royal Naval Museum, Fleet Air Arm Museum, offers a changing programme. ‘I felt that the Navy was Roger’s a full part in the national commemoration of the First World Royal Marines Museum and Royal Navy Submarine Museum War in that year, and in anniversary events up to 2018. into a single coherent identity. Part of this process has already The Museum is within the publicly-accessible, historic part mistress and when she said, “I need led to the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth changing its of a working naval base. Uniquely this means visitors can also you”, he was gone. You feel like a name and re-defining its role; it is now the headquarters of see modern Royal Navy ships in operation; the exhibitions the wider NMRN and is known as ‘The National Museum of will make connections between the past, the present and the second citizen, you know you feel the Royal Navy, Portsmouth’.