London's St. Paul's Cathedral, a majestic Christopher Wren masterpiece, soars above the city. Rebuilt after the Great Fire, it's a treasure trove of history, boasting awe-inspiring baroque architecture, intricate artwork, and a whispering gallery, all topped by its iconic panoramic dome.
ATS were chosen following a competitive tender to develop a brand-new experience for the nearly one million visitors that are welcomed at St Paul’s Cathedral each year. We worked closely with the cathedral to help interpret its rich heritage of faith, architecture and British history through a hand-held multimedia guide.
One of the major challenges to overcome and an area we knew we could improve, was that of visitor wayfinding. The guide needed to support visitors on their journey from the ticket desk, around the cathedral, to the shop and amenities and finally, to the exit.
During audience testing, ATS developed an interface design which allows visitors to choose a tour according to how much time they have and their particular interest. A ‘highlights’ tour provides a fast track tour designed for coach parties and those visitors with limited time.
We produced a rich variety of multimedia which included audio, filmed interviews, animations, graphic games and interactives. For the family tour, an animated phoenix was created which, using specially created drone footage, was able to fly around the Cathedral, providing a truly unique perspective, taking children on a ‘flying visit’.
TripAdvisor October 2023: "Beautiful cathedral and well worth a visit. Good audio guides that you can listen to when walking around. Recommend to take the 528 steps up in the tower and you will have a beautiful view over London."
TripAdvisor May 2023: "Was able to take as much time as needed to listen to Audio Guide which is excellent."
TripAdvisor April 2023: "We visited during Easter week so it was rather crowded, but the self-guided audio tour allowed us to roam about at our own pace. The history and art were fascinating."
