The Award-Winning Burrell Collection

The Burrell Collection, located in Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, is home to the incredible decorative arts collection of Sir William Burrell. Hosting 9,000 objects, including archaeological relics, painting, jewellery and stained-glass windows from Europe and Asia, this vast collection of decorative arts was donated to the city of Glasgow in 1944.

After reopening in 2022 following a renovation and redesign, The Burrell Collection has been named the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023, a prestigious award which comes with a £120,000 prize. Since reopening, the Burrell Collection has welcomed over 500,000 visitors and contributed an economic impact of £20m for Glasgow in its first six months.

This renovation was led by exhibition designers Event Communications, who sensitively designed innovative digital displays which offer new ways of understanding the art and objects in the museum’s new lighting scheme. We were directly appointed to create the lighting design for the museum, beginning work in 2016 before commissioning the scheme in 2022.

The challenge of the lighting design was to create a sequence of twenty galleries, showcasing star objects in the collection and bringing the lighting up to date without losing the wonderful natural daylight feel that was originally utilised. The building itself is much-loved and one of the star objects of the museum, therefore the lighting needed to be sympathetic to its grade listing and traditional features while also becoming suitable for a 21^st century audience.

We worked very closely through mock-ups and sampling to ensure that both the magic of the building was retained, and that the visitor experience was enhanced, through delicate, considered and beautiful lighting. DHA installed and focused 800 track spotlights themselves to ensure a consistency of illumination throughout this unique space.

Illuminating The Oman Across Ages Museum

We Illuminated The Oman Across Ages Museum in Manah, Governorate of A’Dakhiliyah, a project commissioned by the Royal Court Affairs, Sultanate of Oman.

Opening in March 2023, by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the museum foundation stone was laid in 2015 by the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The museum showcases the unique characteristics and historical significance of the Sultanate of Oman, comprising a knowledge center and auditorium, permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, a vast garden and several dining venues.

We were appointed by exhibition designers Event Communications for the lighting design and commissioning of the permanent exhibition project. The aim of the project was to reflect the modern country that Oman has become, while still retaining a sense of its authentic culture and identity.

The History Gallery tells the story of Oman from its geological formation to current era. For the lighting scheme, the brief was to create a sense of place throughout the hall. We achieved this by providing animated lighting, allowing the space to follow a day-to-night sequence that amplifies the natural history narrative. The striking design of the exhibition mirrors Oman’s rugged landscape, with the lighting revealing the space in the way that natural light does – creating various contrasting shadows and highlights as the day changes.

The second hall, the Renaissance Gallery, explores the social, political, economic and industrial transformation of Oman. The goal was to reveal the incredible technological advances of the country in a short time by marrying the lighting with sophisticated audio-visual displays.

Throughout, delicate and valuable historical objects, from archaeological collections to modern documents, were carefully lit to conservation levels, within display cases designed especially for the project.

The lighting design will highlight the history and present day of Oman for years to come, illuminating visitors who come to learn about the culture.

DHA Designs Enhance V&A Dundee Tartan Exhibition with Stunning Lighting Design

V&A Dundee’s latest exhibition is an in-depth exploration of tartan, featuring dynamic lighting design courtesy of lighting consultancy DHA Designs.

The Tartan exhibition, which opened on 1 April 2023 and is set to run until 14 January 2024, features over 300 objects from over 100 international lenders. Tartan celebrates the story of the unique textile, instantly recognisable as a symbol of Scotland, and the traditions, fashions, and creativity it has inspired in communities worldwide.

DHA Designs were appointed by exhibition designers PLAID Studio to create a lighting scheme for the stunning new Tartan exhibition. DHA were delighted to return to V&A Dundee following their previous collaborations on the VideoGames, Night Fever and Michael Clarkexhibitions.

Working to replicate the symbolism of tartan and compliment the design produced by PLAID, DHA used horizontal and vertical linear light sources to reflect the warp and weft of the material. DHA created a tartan-inspired lighting artwork on the floor to enhance the immersive feel of the exhibition.

Brian Studak at PLAID Studio commented: “Once again DHA’s lighting design has provided a beautiful and seemingly effortless lighting solution to a very technically challenging project. They are a joy to work with and somehow make our job easier.”

David Robertson at DHA Designs concluded: “We were thrilled to collaborate with V&A Dundee once again, bringing the Tartan exhibition to life through a creative use of linear light. It was wonderful to work with PLAID Studio, producing a lighting scheme to complement their incredible design work and to make visitors feel as though they are stepping inside tartan itself.”

Update to our privacy policy

We are using Google Analytics on our website to follow user engagement & to improve the way our site works for visitors.

As a result, we have updated our privacy policy, and the updated document can be viewed here.

Please do take a look, and ensure you feel comfortable with the data we are collecting, which is purely to improve the way we do business with our clients

Design Week article: Exhibition design in 2023

We were delighted when Eithne Owens, creative director at Event Communications, mentioned our work on the 2022 exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, Tiffany: Vision & Virtuosity in her recent Design Week article, What will exhibition design look like in 2023?

Eithne described our lighting for the exhibition as ‘absolutely stunning’, in particular the way we lit the ‘Blue Book’ room, where pieces were individually haloed by light to best display the form and materiality of some of Tiffany’s most precious and delicate pieces.

It’s a great boost when one of our clients has spotted some of the work we have done, and to be mentioned in an article relating to the future of design is really very pleasing, so thank you to Eithne and Design Week for this.