ZMMA has recently completed the ambitious redevelopment of Poole Museum, transforming a complex of mediaeval, 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st-century buildings into a class-leading, fully accessible national cultural destination, telling the story of Poole’s rich maritime, marine archaeological and creative heritage, and revitalising the historic quayside.
Working collaboratively with the curatorial team, BCP Council, Historic England and the community, ZMMA has reimagined the Museum’s historic structures and collections to create an integrated visitor experience across six floors, with new permanent and temporary exhibitions galleries, along with the remodelling of the adjoining Grade I listed inn and merchant’s house, Scaplen’s Court.
Appointed as architects and exhibition designers we have unified architecture, exhibition, graphics, lighting, and interactives into an atmospheric, layered visitor experience, so that every aspect – from masterplanning the campus, through architectural interventions, right down to object display and interactives details – supports accessibility, intellectual and emotional resonance and a cohesive, complete experience.
The largest of the permanent exhibition galleries, ‘Shipwreck!’, showcases Poole’s extraordinary maritime archaeology collections, including dramatic open displays of the carved timber elements of a grand mediaeval ship; a rare, preserved 10-metre-long Iron Age log boat centre-stage and a sculptural display of mediaeval ships’ timbers, all on open display within the meticulously restored, dramatic Grade I listed mediaeval Wool Hall.
