Experience design firm Sysco has completed a major audio-visual integration at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey, UK.

The museum has opened the Aircraft Factory, a brand new immersive experience in the Bellman Hangar, a transportable aeroplane shed dating back to World War II.
The experience, which formed part of an £8m development project, the museum’s largest to date, was designed to give visitors an authentic experience of life on the floor of an aircraft factory throughout history.

It features mirrored intro and outro films, that are projected directly onto corrugated walls at opposite ends of the hangar, and serve as a spectacular focal point for visitors, while a multi-layered audio soundscape is delivered through ceiling mounted speakers. It is designed to mimic the sounds of the factory floor during the mid-20th century, when Brooklands was at its peak in aviation production. It features the bygone sounds of machinery, factory workers and air raids to fully immerse visitors in the experience.
The Aircraft Factory is home to the Loch Ness Wellington, a bomber plane used in WWII that was shot down over, and later recovered from, Loch Ness. The bunker’s mezzanine level gives visitors a spectacular birds eye view of the plane. It also features interactive touch screens, which display the technical details, mechanical functions and engineering principles of the exhibits. Guests can also design civil, military and future aircraft , and are able to test their designs in a virtual ‘airspace.’

The experience also features an interactive audio display where guests can learn about morse code and hear first-person accounts from pilots.
Sysco was enlisted by project manager Focus Consultants, to deliver the layers of audiovisual solutions across the museum. Sysco worked closely with Elmwood Projects, who handled the interior fit out, to ensure that the AV technology was seamlessly integrated amongst the aircraft, artefacts and exhibits.

Valerie Mills, commercial manager at Brooklands Museum, says: “It was always our aim to bring the produce an immersive factory experience that would both tell the stories of the aircraft factories at Brooklands.”
Mills adds: “The audiovisual elements, in particular the large projections and soundscape, help bring the space in the restored hangar to life.”