Manchester Art Gallery had only just reopened following a major refurbishment and expansion project when visitor feedback showed it needed to redesign more than just its buildings. It had invested lots of time and money into making sure its exhibition halls were in tiptop condition, but it had neglected those small details that help to make the visitor experience enjoyable. Despite visitor numbers quadrupling in the months immediately after the building work, it wasn’t long before they began to dip from an average of 1,272 a day in 2002/3 to 856 per day in 2005/6.
The gallery carefully monitors feedback from visitors and this revealed that a number of people were put off by the daunting appearance of the exterior of the Victorian building and those that did venture inside had severe problems finding the information desk, knowing where to start and end their visit and orientating themselves around the space.
“We weren’t selling our product effectively,” admits Kate Farmery, Head of Services at the gallery. “We had to bring up the quality of design in the public areas to the same high quality that was already there in the gallery spaces. And it wasn’t just a building issue - all of our communications materials were underselling what we do.”
Farmery knew that she had to tackle the problem head-on and reverse the downward trend quickly because, following the refurbishment, there was pressure from the City Council and from other stakeholders like the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council not only to bring in traditional gallery goers but also to attract visitors who weren’t the middle class regulars and who didn’t put a visit to the gallery high up on their ‘to do’ list.
So she approached the DCMS/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund for an assistance grant and commissioned London-based design firm Holmes Wood to spend it because of its previous experience designing wayfinding schemes, information graphics and print for the likes of the Tate, The National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert museum.
The first phase of the project, they decided together, needed to tackle the appearance of the building as well as the orientation and signage issues. “It was pretty clear from the outset that this project needed to consider all areas of the visitor experience - from what the staff wore and where they stood, to lighting, floor finishes and furniture,” says Holmes Wood Partner, Alexandra Wood.
A major problem, the building’s listed status, caused endless delays throughout the project, but Wood says that the design team’s biggest challenge lay in winning the backing of the gallery team. “We had to ensure that the gallery staff got on board and really believed that the changes put in place would make a difference to them and the issues they were having to deal with daily,” adds Wood.
