Museum cleaned up with LDP look

Approval has been given to concepts by Lumsden Design Partnership for a revamp of Bath visitor attraction the Roman Baths Museum.

The project encompasses the museum’s Grade 1-listed reception hall, including interiors, visual identity, visitor flow, signage and wayfinding and is the first stage of a broader revamp, according to Roman Baths Museum visitor services manager Katie Smith.

‘In the longer term, we would like to do more with the museum. A refurbishment of exhibition areas [is likely] within the next five years,’ says Smith.

The reception area was targeted as a priority because its Victorian era interiors and poor visitor flow were limiting growth and misleading potential visitors about what the museum has to offer, says Smith.

‘At most other attractions people can see what they are paying for. Here people can get to the reception and think “it’s a lot of money to see a bath”. We are trying to give a “wow” factor to people when they first arrive and an indication about what the rest of the site has to offer,’ she explains.

LDP designer Helen Gubb says the group has created a ‘contemporary solution to a very strong space’. A 6m-high glass screen on which images will be projected is the central feature of the revamped look. ‘The hall doesn’t reflect what you’re going to see and we’re trying to conjure up the ambience and character of the Roman Baths, the water, the steam and the colours,’ says Gubb.

The consultancy was appointed following a three-way pitch in July and Gubb and fellow LDP designers Richard Hudson and Rado Iliev worked alongside LDP managing director Callum Lumsden on the project.

The revamped reception is scheduled to open at Easter 2003.