Metaphor, a leading planner and designer of museums, is celebrating its work on ‘The Amelia Scott’, a brand new cultural and learning hub in the UK. The venue opened in Tunbridge Wells on 28 April 2022.
The firm, which has offices in Edinburgh and London, was chosen to be the project’s exhibition designers, having been involved with the site since 2014. Metaphor has also worked on prestigious projects at Winchester Cathedral and the National Holocaust Centre and Museum.
Metaphor was given the challenging brief of combining the library, museum, art gallery and council amenities successfully into one building. The result has been described as a beautiful and warm selection of spaces for residents, visitors and workers to enjoy.
The Amelia Scott is a major project for the borough of Tunbridge Wells and has benefitted from extensive media coverage from outlets including ITV.
Local significance
The building format Metaphor worked with is rare, the result of combining multiple services into one structure. It is named after Amelia Scott, a local social reformer and campaigner for women’s suffrage, active in the early 20th century. As a resident of Tunbridge Wells, Scott raised awareness of the needs of new mothers and became one of the first women elected to the borough council of Tunbridge Wells in 1919.
Metaphor was integral to the design of The Amelia’s interior spaces and plans to assist other councils to accomplish similar projects in their respective towns and cities.
Initial visitors to the space were immediately impressed with the work, with one guest quoted as saying “It makes me want to be a child again” when walking around the Children’s Library.
A spokesperson for the company says: “Metaphor are incredibly proud of this project. The brief to blend multiple services into one building was certainly a challenging one, but we are absolutely delighted with the end result and we were so pleased to see so many people enjoying it at the opening event.”
In March, Metaphor presented a new visitor experience at The Nelson Room at Old Royal Naval College, restoring the historic Greenwich space in London.
