One of the beautifully-designed galleries at the new Wedgwood Museum. Courtesy AllofUs
A state-of-the-art museum celebrating the work of one of Britain’s foremost potters has been launched in his birthplace.
The Wedgwood museum in Stoke-on-Trent tells the story of Josiah Wedgwood, a visionary modeller who created earthenware for Queen Charlotte and ran a factory in the city credited with drastically improving the quality of 18th century pottery.
Visual innovation illustrates the Wedgwood family heritage. Courtesy AllofUs
The new £10.5 million building marks the culmination of nine years of planning and fundraising following the closure of the original museum in 1999.
It has been partly funded by a £5.8 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which was persuaded to support the scheme after encouraging The Wedgwood Trust to improve the scope and ambition of their plans.
Uniting a vast collection of ceramics under one roof, the range of suites realise Wedgwood’s wish, expressed in 1774, to have “saved a single specimen of all the new articles I have made”.
Interactive elements have played a key role in the new design. Courtesy AllofUs
“The concept behind the design was to provide visitors with the experience of being within the heart of a working factory,” explains lead architect Lee Grady of local designers Hulme Upright Manning, who won a Europe-wide competition to create the futuristic development.
“We chose to do this using contemporary detailing and materials such as composite aluminium cladding, glass and steel, whilst echoing more traditional types in the use of feature curved brickwork.”
The gallery aims to realise Josiah Wedgwood's wish to have a broad range of his work on view
A bottle kiln greets visitors at the main entrance to the building, a fitting introduction given Wedgwood’s invention of the pyrometer, an oven temperature reading device which saw him elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1783.
Once inside, visitors can take a whirlwind tour of his original Etruria factory thanks to interactive elements designed by BAFTA-winning animators AllofUs.
The factories dramatically improved the design of crockery in the 18th century. Courtesy AllofUs
Leslie Quarcoopome, Senior Interactive Designer at the company, said: “It’s important that the use of technology is well considered and used with sensitivity – done well, it should be invisible and not alienate.
“The technology gave us the opportunity to allow visitors to explore artefacts that were simply too precious to have on display and to reveal the stories of these objects, really putting them in context historically and socially.
“That is what I think the Wedgwood Museum has done very well – it is respectful of the past, allowing the real heroes to shine."
