Cork Public Museum

Project Description
Cork Public Museum exhibits a diverse range of items from archaeological, social, historical and even sporting arenas. Many of the exhibits are physically small, and need to be displayed in the context of other exhibits they relate to.
Design Brief
Given the diversity of cabinets to be lit, and the diversity of items within each cabinet, this project called for a genuinely innovative solution. We needed to illuminate a large number of items of various sizes in a way that neither created glare, nor obscured the exhibits on display.

Working with Roblon Fibre Optics, we designed a new fitting (for the fibre end) which was both orientable, and variable focus. This enabled the curator to precisely direct the light onto exhibits, no matter their size, or location within the cabinet. All fittings were located in the top of the cabinet, thus keeping them out of line of sight of the viewer.

Four of the display cabinets posed a particular challenge in that they were themselves valuable artefacts. They were very tall and wide, but had very restricted depth. Since we were not permitted to damage or modify them in any way, it was thus extremely difficult to find mounting locations for the fibre ends. We therefore used a Roblon specialised fitting called ‘XPO’, designed originally for lighting glass cabinets that have no provision for locating light fittings of any description.

Finally, we were tasked with installing the complete system in the cabinets after the exhibits had been set out by the curators. This meant that not only could we not disturb any of the contents of the cabinets, but that no dust or debris could be generated during the process of installation. With a little foresight and ingenuity this problem was also solved.
Architect
The Curator, Cork Public Museum