The Burrell Collection, a decorative and fine arts museum in Glasgow situated in the grounds of Pollock Park, was originally opened by QEII in 1983 to great acclaim. In the intervening years, however, the museum had fallen into some disrepair and was falling behind the advancements in museological standards. Consequently, Glasgow Museums engaged a design and architectural team to meet not only the original aspirations of William Burrell but those of Glasgow Museums, in providing an accessible and sustainable museum suitable for the 21st century.
From the outset, we engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to provide a robust intellectual framework for the redesign and subsequent curation of the collection and found three main challenges.
Firstly, a need to reach audiences who did not see the museum as accessible or welcoming to them. After consultation with over 15,000 people, we responded to these concerns in several ways.
* We built trust with various community groups, nursery classes and a Muslim women’s charity, by taking objects out of the museum environment and directly to them. * Created new entrances into the building to make it more welcoming and increased physical accessibility throughout the three levels of the building by significantly improved circulation and orientation. * We worked closely with focus groups during the prototyping stage and ensured their comments regarding accessibility were fed into the final designs of the displays. * Ran an inclusive recruitment campaign, creating a diverse front-of-house team, invested in the building and collection from the beginning.
Secondly, the need to adapt to a digital world, and understand our audience’s expectations for sophisticated interpretation of our collections.
* By producing over 100 unique pieces of world-class digital interpretation we gave context and meaning to the collection, including a digital guide. * 50 new tactile models and labels, we encouraged audiences to explore, for example by holding replicas of objects on display, our collection through touch.
Thirdly, environmental sustainability and the climate crisis.
* We challenged ourselves to ensure that every aspect of the Burrell Collection was as sustainable as possible. An electric shuttle bus connects the museum with public transport and encourages visitors to use public or active travel. We also ensured that the refurbishment recognised the importance of energy efficiency and sustainability and were delighted to achieve BREEAM Excellent status in 2022.
As part of this commitment to access for all, and because of our engagement with the three main challenges identified above, the redisplay was co-curated with input from a wide range of community groups to ensure that diverse and inclusive perspectives were considered at an early stage. This resulted in some unique interpretation from immersive experiences to interactive games give context and meaning to the collection in a way previously unseen with decorative and fine art collections. Our work in this area has built deeper relationships with communities and produced fresh perspectives in our curatorial thinking which now forms the basis for a methodology being developed for use across all of Glasgow Museums venues.
Another positive outcome of this inclusive approach was the interpretation provided in nine languages and gallery tours which would be relevant and speak to local communities. We continue to engage with groups to improve the visitor offer, for example by developing LGBTQ+ tours and visually described tours for the partially sighted. In addition, the museum now provides integrated sector-leading physical accessibility into a Category A-listed building, and we are the first museum in Scotland to have two Changing Places toilets.
When the Burrell Museum re-opened to the public in March 2022 following the £68.25 million refurbishment, around 9,000 objects ranging from one of the most significant holdings of Chinese art in the UK, medieval treasures, stained glass, and fine art are now displayed and interpreted to be accessible to all visitors, ranging from those with specialised interests to community groups, in a modernised state-of-the-art museum.
The new displays give visitors a better understanding of the international significance of The Burrell Collection, the people who created the objects and the people who owned them before William Burrell. In total 225 displays are spread across 24 galleries and the displays include innovative, accessible interpretation of our collection to help all our visitors engage with the stories behind the objects, a driving philosophy behind the refurbishment.
The museum’s gallery space has been increased by 35%, allowing important and unique objects from the Collection, not seen for decades, or those that have never been on display, to go on show. Our philosophy, to place the visitor at the centre of everything we do, has been fully realised in this refurbishment. Our displays and programmes have been created and developed to meet the needs of a wide range of audiences and are inclusive, responsive and represent museum best practice. Central to this access are the facilities and interpretation that support visitors of all abilities and backgrounds, making the Burrell Collection one of the most accessible fine and decorative arts museums in the world.
Since the reopening, we have continued delivering on our commitment to all our communities. Community partners were front and centre during the Royal opening in October 2022, meeting HM King Charles III. We continue to have close relationships with local Primary Schools and are planning pilot residencies for schools that will use the museum as a classroom. This has resulted in children becoming some of our most enthusiastic ambassadors.
We have been buoyed by visitor feedback and the interim results of a summative evaluation of our approach to interpretation where 100% of respondents said they’d recommend the Burrell to family and friends and 99% told us that the themes and stories told in the displays were good or excellent. Participants identified one of the greatest strengths of the museum as lying in the variety of interpretive methods being used to support the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere in the galleries. By including the various methods, which recognise and tap into different learning styles, the museum was felt to be demonstrating its commitment to inclusiveness.
Our decision to involve communities at every stage of The Burrell Collection’s redisplay, and in all aspects of the museum, was a radical and at times controversial decision but we believe strongly that diverse communities should be represented in our museums. We are proud of what we have achieved at the Burrell through building trust with different groups and delivering meaningful co-curation. The Burrell Collection has become a catalyst for the cultural and economic development of Glasgow, generating benefits that will be felt throughout the city in the short and long term.