Beaulieu
Winter's Tales at Palace House

Hunter Gatherer conceved and created a magical night time experience for this famous, historic home in the New Forest. Working closely with the Beaulieu team, our aim was to create an overall feeling of warmth and festive spirit as well as bring some of Beaulieu’s unique spaces, objects and stories to life with sound, light, projection and candlelight. From the outset the creative team was highly sensitive to the history of the house and the Montagu family, as well as the house itself. The stories we were to tell, and the experiences we would create, had to become as one with the environment, adding another layer to the Beaulieu story that was also revealing and unexpected.

From exterior lighting on arrival, towering flambeaux and the entrance and hundreds of LED candles, through to projection mapping, soundscapes and animation, Hunter Gatherer created moments of delight throughout the house that brought objects and stories to life and well as creating magical moments. Highlights included: animated plates in the kitchen that metamorphose into a Dance of the Snowflakes sequence starring members of the New Forest Academy of Dance; an animated table that briought to life the childhood and careers of three Lords Montagu; and an animated Victorian toy theatre that featured a scale model of HMS Agamemnon in an I Saw Three Ships experience. Perhaps one of the simplest installations was our projection mapping of snow falling within John Ward's famous winter portrait of the Montagu family. The effect brought the painting to life in such a seamless way that we found it was difficult for visitors to put into words what they are actually looking at. Just the kind of magic we strive for.

“Beaulieu is one of the UK’s best loved heritage destinations and for over 50 years it has been at the forefront of innovative thinking for visitor experiences,” says Art Lewry of Hunter Gatherer. “It was a great honour to be invited into Palace House to create Winter’s Tales and continue that tradition and push new boundaries in technology and storytelling. Working with the team at Beaulieu was been an incredible experience.”