Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum
Permanent Gallery Masterplanning & Visitor Engagement Framework
Preparing for the future
In the lead-up to its 100th anniversary in 2029, the museum approached Stitchbird to create a content and visitor engagement framework to guide the renewal of its permanent galleries over the next decade.
Our scope involved reviewing previous iterations of gallery and building masterplans and providing the organisation with an updated roadmap aligned with its new strategic direction. Our work focused on aligning the organisation's long-term goals with tactical, actionable steps for staged capital delivery projects that would help to achieve them, laying the groundwork for the museum to meaningfully engage its audiences through 21st-century gallery experiences.
It was vital to balance the museum's memorial functions and much-loved taonga and exhibits with the need to meet modern visitor expectations, reflecting the vibrant super-diversity of Tāmaki Makaurau and honouring the shift toward becoming a Te Tiriti-led organisation.
Photo by Bill Fairs on Unsplash
A Framework
for Change
We enlisted Tim Walker as a collaborator, who brought a specific focus to the strategic and operational alignment process. Together, we worked collaboratively with the Museum's lead and management teams. We delivered a robust strategic framework focusing on the intersection of content and narrative, spatial sequencing, delivery of diverse experiences targeted at specific visitor demographics, and design integration into the existing building.
We also provided operational planning tools to assist with implementation. The management group described our final report as being like a 'recipe'—giving their internal teams the ingredients they need to make informed and strategic decisions as they carry out their day-to-day work, while giving them the agency to inject their own approaches.
Photo: Tāmiki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum website
Our Scope
Of Work
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Strategic Context Analysis: We analysed the complex, rapid shifts the museum will operate in over the coming decade, encompassing changing city demographics.
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Organising Principles: We defined the central 'core' stories and cohesive narrative frameworks tailored for each distinct floor level.
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Visitor Journey & Wayfinding: We developed a conceptual model for the museum visitor journey to create differentiated experiential realms. This included detailed strategies to improve visitor flow, clarify circulation routes, and implement dedicated orientation spaces to assist with wayfinding.
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Spatial Integration: We formulated strategies to work harmoniously with the museum's unique architecture, ensuring future exhibitions complement the spatial qualities of the heritage galleries.
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Integrated Methodologies: We provided a recommended, step-by-step methodology for cross-disciplinary internal staff to use when ideating and assessing new gallery initiatives.
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Investment Prioritisation: We established a clear set of criteria to help the museum's leadership identify and prioritise future capital investments across onsite, offsite, and online platforms.
Check out Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum here