Cutty Sark blaze to become part of show

The fire at the Cutty Sark could be designed into the history of the ship in the form of interactive installations added to its planned permanent exhibition space in London’s Greenwich.

According to Designmap’s Daniel Sutton, who has been carrying out the graphics work for the exhibition space since before last week’s blaze, there could be proposals to add interactive design elements to the centre to inform visitors of the recent fire.

However, building and architectural work for the visitor centre, originally due to open in September next year, will inevitably be delayed by several months until the extent of the damage is fully understood. It is designed by architect Youmeshehe, Designmap and exhibitions specialist Barry Mazur. Interactive installations are being designed by Heritage Multimedia, and lighting is by Business Design Partnership Lighting.

As long as the design plans remain unaltered, the permanent centre will appear underneath the ship, which will be suspended three metres above the dock. There will be a glass canopy midway up the hull to look like a wave, giving the impression the ship is sailing.