AdventureLAB | Attractions

Pirate Experience Room at Bornholms Middelaldercenter

Ecaterina Capatina — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 09:12:22 +0000

Pirate Experience Room at Bornholm's Medieval Center

The project scope

In 2021, Bornholms Middelaldercenter (Bornholm’s Medieval Center) opened a new pirate experience room.

The experience is based on the history and legends about the pirates who roamed the Baltic Sea in the 14th Century.

The Medieval Center wanted to offer an experience for their guests that would help them learn about the pirates and their missions and engage them with interactive activities inside and outside the room.

The room size is approximately 52m², with one entrance for guests and one for staff.

The outcome

Experience room with the title “Middelalderens Sørøvere i Østersøen” (The Medieval Pirates of the Baltic Sea)

AdventureLAB worked together with the Medieval Center not only to provide the creative content but also to design the exhibition applying the latest storytelling-based design methodology.

The 52m² room was transformed to resemble a ship deck, with a backdrop of a minimalised sunset over the sea. The room combined learning with sensory experience, gameplay, multimedia content and immersive design.

The story and experience were interconnected with the application of Integrated Storytelling. Read below for a more detailed explanation.

Theming

The small closed room allowed us to create a themed space where we could control the light, crowd movement, and audience engagement.

The transition from outside into the room takes place on a “bridge”. We step on it, as if from the pier, and onto the ship. Therefore, right from the entrance, we are already engaged in the narrative of the room.

Narrative

As we enter the room, we find ourselves on the deck of a cog (a type of a medieval ship). The space tells the story of the medieval pirates through different objects we can find here. From weapons to food to board games, we get an idea of what a day on the ship might have looked like. We move around the room and upwards on the ladder leading to the castle to discover the different objects and micro-stories.

Multimedia

The content of the experience room is presented in a variety of formats: from text to video to audio stories, to gamification. We kept the text display to a minimum and therefore used a guidebook and a set of symbols at each point of interest for navigation. An original piece of ambience music is synchronised with the day and night theme of a map projection on one of the walls.

Gameplay

Using a set of symbols for each point of interest in the room, we built a game based on exploration. Using the book, the object in the room, and a map, we find the answers to the questions that help us discover the destination of the room. This game is simple to play by the younger guests on their own or with the help of the parents.

Characters

As history is reflected in real stories, we introduced a few historical characters and let them tell their stories as if in their own words. We are introduced to the context by a narrator and then thrown right in the middle of the main events described by the characters. Using the technology of QR codes, we listen to the stories on our own devices.

Integration

The elements in the experience room work together, aligning in the story universe – StoryVerse. The audio stories reflect various aspects of the pirate life, as do the objects in the room. The “ship” theme zooms into everyday life, while the audio stories, the projected map and the game zoom out to a wider view of history, putting Bornholm in the context of the Hanseatic wars, battles for the Danish crown, and more.

Play a short excerpt from the ambient music

https://www.adventurelabstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Ambience-music-Day-theme-excerpt.mp3

Characters and interaction. Photo by Bornholms Middelaldercenter

Spices for sensory experience. Photo by Bornholms Middelaldercenter

The sleep corner. Photo by Bornholms Middelaldercenter

The ladder leading up to the castle. Photo by Bornholms Middelaldercenter

Design concept visualisation – Castle view

Design concept visualisation – Front view

Credits

Concept and design
AdventureLAB

Creative content (storytelling, digital and print media, graphics)
Anna Maria Kristensen
Asta Staal
Ecaterina Capatina
Lena Mühlig
Kasper Vegeberg
Klaus Sommer Paulsen
Veronika Guseva

Music:
Frederik Neumann

Room design concept visualisation:
Michael Boskovich

Shipbuilding:
Rylander : Kure

Voiceover:
Kristin la Cour
SpeakOnline

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Sørøver Udstilling på Bornholms Middelaldercenter

Ecaterina Capatina — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 11:24:17 +0000

Pirate Exhibition at Bornholm's Medieval Center

In progress

The Project

In 2021, Bornholms Middelaldercenter (Bornholm’s Medieval Center) will open a new pirate exhibition for their guests.

The Center dedicated the exhibition to the pirates who roamed the Baltic Sea in the 14th Century. What makes these pirates special is that they saw themselves as professionals in maritime violence. Attacking the enemy’s ships was for them a well-paid job, rather than a lifestyle. At the same time, their opponents called them “sørøvere” which means “sea robbers”.

The Medieval Center wants to create an experience for their guests that will not only help them learn about these pirates and their missions but also engage them with interactive activities.

The challenge is to integrate an exhibition with a different design in the entire identity of the centre. It will be an indoors exhibition with additional activities taking place outside.

Our Role

Currently, AdventureLAB is working together with BMC not only to provide the creative content but also to design the exhibition applying the latest storytelling-based design methodology.

We are working to open the door to the medieval world, with immersive spacial design, rich stories, pirate legends and more.

To design the experience, we combine the eventful history of the pirates with fictional storytelling, mythology and gamification. We make it possible by applying the Integrated Storytelling principles. We are working with a variety of story levels and audience roles. This allows us to offer the visitors experiences that are as personalised as possible.

This will be one of a kind experience in the entire Bornholms Middelaldercenter.

The opening of the exhibition is scheduled for 2021.

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