projects
- - Video production - Set design & build - Graphic design - Photo opportunities - Interactive activities - Audio tour - Metal works Website: lifetimelab.ie Reviews: TripAdvisor
The Old Cork Waterworks
Mirador Media has been involved in the installation and maintenance of interactive activities at The Old Cork Waterworks since 2008. In 2016 Mirador Media was invited to work in conjunction with main contractor Vidar Media to upgrade the existing attraction as well as develop a new experience in the engine room.
The result is a superb interactive hands-on experience including audio-visuals, sounds and smells all triggered by mechanical actions. Children explore the area as 'little scientists' with a clip board and questionnaire as they learn about how energy and drinking water is generated and how to reduce their consumption.
In the Steam Centre the experience consists of a self-guided exhibition upstairs in the boiler room and a guided tour of the engine room downstairs.
Upstairs, sounds, fire and smoke effects greet the visitor and re-create the atmosphere of the waterworks in its hay days. A large interactive multilingual screen provides visitors with information about the former waterworks and the original water network through a series of videos and animations. Wall mounted display panels support the learning experience while a panoramic view of the three main engines is accompanied by multilingual audio commentaries and lift-up flaps fixed to a graphic panel.
Downstairs in the engine room visitors experience a day in the life of a worker at the waterworks. The tour guide leads visitors through a succession of hands-on activities where they are asked to re-enact and complete tasks. Wall projection and screen based characters interact with both the visitors and the tour guide periodically, gauging the visitors' abilities to work the engines. The original Victorian levers have been refurbished to act as triggers to start and stop the interactive experience which also includes lighting & smoke effects as well as audio 'rewards' on completion of the various tasks.
In 2019, Mirador was contracted to design and install new exhibits that would help tie all stories and buildings together. An introductory multi-lingual audio-visual presentation was produced as well as a multi-lingual audio tour to guide visitors on their journey through the site. A series of Victorian-themed metal frames and signage was added to visually tie all elements together while a new fibreglass figures photo-opportunity of the main characters of the waterworks was commissionned.