STIHL TREETOP WALKWAY

CLIENT: WESTONBIRT ARBORETUM

Westonbirt Arboretum’s Treetop Walkway bridges a valley, so manages to give a 13 metre high treetop experience while being fully accessible.  We took a well-defined brief and set about developing a number of interpretation ‘islands’ on the walkway structure, and a set of ‘buzz stops’ linking to the surrounding environment by drip-feeding fun facts and pointing out interesting trees along the walkway’s length.

Some elegant artworks such as the walk-through exploded tree trunk needed a lot of engineering to integrate their steelwork into the walkway structure. Lots of original illustration helps communicate complex ideas to all ages. Low tech solutions such as maze graphics, handheld filters and flaps, or prompts to ‘lumber up’ by holding tree poses, were used to augment the interactivity without significant ongoing maintenance.

The Walkway interpretation was runner up in the Association for Heritage Interpretation Awards ‘Best Project for a Target Audience’ category in 2017.