RUSHTON TRIANGULAR LODGE

CLIENT : ENGLISH HERITAGE

Rushton Triangular Lodge is an an intriguing 16th century folly built by Sir Thomas Tresham encoding (and thus concealing) his persecuted catholic faith. English Heritage were looking for outdoor interpretation that included intrigue and surprise elements to help visitors decode the building’s many puzzles in a site-appropriate way.

With the usual scheduled monument restrictions on digging down, we used benches and existing fences to anchor the interpretation. Each bench faces a different side of the building, pointing out some key features of each elevation and linking to the frieze elements designed to be read while making circuits of the whole thing.

A bespoke set of LIFT2 flaps on the overview panels allowed us to present the tower’s stories as they were designed - three horizontal bands on each elevation, with distinct meanings for each layer. Ground disks (inserted on simple spikes) also give hints on where to stand to see important features.