Mather & Co designs interactive experience for birthplace of rugby

Mather & Co has designed a museum dedicated to the sport of rugby, based in the place where it was first born in the 1800s.

Situated in the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum in Rugby, the new World Rugby Hall of Fame features video archive material, digital installations and memorabilia.

Speaking about the choice of location, World Rugby chief executive, Brett Gosper, says: “How appropriate it is for the museum to be based in the town of Rugby, where it all began nearly 200 years ago.”

Wall of Fame

The 380m² exhibition space comprises three main areas: a timeline highlighting the game’s origins in 1823 up until the present day, another section which looks at the six different regions and 121 World Rugby member unions, and a Wall of Fame exhibition which will be updated regularly.

The Wall of Fame incorporates large interactive digital projections which allow visitors to examine specific historic games.

Projection touch-walls

Wall panels within the exhibition space have also been turned into interactive projection touch-walls, which provide information about everything from the history of the game to the various different ways it is played internationally.

Another interactive installation allows visitors to see images of their rugby heroes projected onto several double-sided glass blades.

Chris Mather, chief executive at Mather & Co, says: “It’s important to us that the museum appeals to the general public, as well as to rugby superfans as the location of the attraction plays a part in the story, although it clearly celebrates the global adoption of the game.”

The World Rugby Hall of Fame is on Little Elborow Street, Rugby, CV21 3BZ. For more information, head here.