Rousay Heritage Centre

The perfect digital accompaniment to an exhibition for an unmanned island heritage centre.

As part of a project to redevelop the Rousay Heritage Centre, on Orkney, Scotland, Rhona Jenkins Design were tasked by the Rousay Egilsay & Wyre Heritage Trust to include a digital facility to provide additional information about the island’s heritage. As the centre is unmanned and in a building with no internet access this could have been a tricky assignment, especially as Covid restrictions were also a consideration at the time.

An Info Point discretely hidden within a workstation allows users to explore digital content either using the touchscreen or their own device.

workstation with touchscreen in rousay heritage centre

Having worked with Dan and his team previously we asked if there was anything that would fit the bill and were delighted to discover the Info Point unit, which proved to be the perfect solution. Wildfi were great to work with, guiding us through the process of finding the right combination of technology for Rousay’s requirements and being very patient with the sometimes frustrating logistics of an island location. The online training and support was excellent and the team were always on hand to answer our ’stupid questions’ [Editor: there’s never a stupid question, Rhona!] with patience and a sense of humour.
Rhona Jenkins, Rhona Jenkins Design

The Info Point unit is proving to be a great feature in the exhibition. It allows visitors to scan QR codes on the interpretation panels and link to e.g. sound recordings of folk tales and activities, such as providing answers to a quiz about the silhouettes of birds hanging from the ceiling.

It is expected that the majority of users will use their own devices to access the information. This gives the advantage of being able to download pdfs of walking leaflets and guides to archaeological sites and wildlife around the island. Being able to add to or update this information in the future was a big advantage to the client.

internal shot of rousay heritage centre showing information panels