Warwick Castle is one of the top historical attractions in the UK. Originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068, the Castle has a rich, exciting history, which you can explore though tours, shows, and immersive entertainment.
Warwick Castle is steeped in history, but we recognised that traditional room displays were failing to capture the imagination of younger visitors. Observations showed that children and families often walked through rooms quickly, with limited engagement due to minimal interpretation; small panels with text and images and static mannequins offered little interaction.
Our goal was clear: to bring the castle’s stories to life the people who lived and worked here through three immersive routes:
We aimed to add interactivity and storytelling to embed key historical facts in a fun, memorable way.
We wanted to introduce a brand-new way to engage with the castle, focusing on a vibrant and interactive family tour and an inclusive range of accessible tours, including British Sign Language (BSL), Audio Described and virtual tours.
We brought in a professional writer who was experienced in creating captivating family content. We brought to life some of the fascinating people who once lived in the castle. These ranged from the Kingmaker of the 15th Century to the Victorian socialite Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick.
To aid in creating a family tour, a cartoon bear was also added to the lineup of fun characters exploring the castle with you. The bear provided the line between the tours and challenged your knowledge throughout.
All the characters of Warwick Castle seemed to jump off the page, so we brought them to life in video! Our team captured the characters in their respective rooms on site.
We spent a few days filming the introductions to each of the three tours, photographing each room and points of interest. The cast was made up of familiar faces to the castle, who embody the life of the castle every day.
Once in their costumes they seamlessly blended into the rooms and added life into the stories held in the walls. With punchy introductions families will be thrilled to explore the castle and discover the lives of these friendly faces.
Central to Warwick Castle's brief was to make the content accessible to all visitors. Accessibility was a major challenge due to the castle’s historic structure stairs without lifts and plenty of uneven surfaces.
We worked alongside their accessibility team and developed an Audio Described tour with expert input and testing. This will accompany new touch points and tactile engagement. We have also created British Sign Language (BSL) videos with captions to help those who are deaf and hard of hearing.
We have captured 360° panorama virtual tours for those unable to navigate the site, which will be available on the multimedia devices.
