Castle Howard is one of Britain’s finest stately homes, nestling in the Howardian Hills in North Yorkshire. It has been home for the Howard family for over 300 years and will be familiar to some as the fictional ‘Brideshead’ in Brideshead Revisited.
We were commissioned, along with graphic designers Graphic Thought Facility, to develop a comprehensive wayfinding scheme for the estate both externally and internally within the house itself. Castle Howard is still home for the Howard family and so signs had to be sensitively designed to fit sympathetically within their environment; they also needed to be removable as they are taken down during the winter months and whilst filming is taking place.
Whilst the scheme needed to function in terms of orientating the first time visitor and providing the necessary prompts, providence… sourcing local materials and craftsmen… was a high priority when we were preparing the sign specifications.
Aluminium sand castings from Sneatonthorpe, cast formed iron from Malton, fabrication and assembly in Leeds… all located within ‘God’s Own County’.
Providence indeed.
