University News Last updated 14 February 2011
In September 2010, final year students on the Theatre, Performance and Event Design course at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD)undertook a live brief with Merlin Entertainments, owners of Madame Tussauds, Legoland and Alton Towers. The design brief was set by Merlin Creative Director, Paul Williams, and followed a tour of Madame Tussauds.
The brief was to research new and future technology, and taking the essence of the current Madame Tussauds attractions, combine these to design a vision of what a Madame Tussauds of the future could look like. Merlin asked students to consider:
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What the visitor will experience
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New ways of creating an emotional rollercoaster
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Innovative forms of communication with the visitor
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Produce exciting new interactive ideas with a futuristic 'blue sky' approach
The student who created the most original and exciting concept would be granted a period of work experience at Merlin Studios in London, which is the creative hub for all Merlin Entertainments attractions.
The winners were chosen at BIAD in December by Paul Williams and three other members of the Merlin Madame Tussauds team. Each student presented their design individually, followed by questions from the Merlin team. They shortlisted three students, and and said the standard of students’ work in response to their project was fantastic.
A few days later, Lily-Ann Bedder was announced as the winner. Lily-Ann proposed a restaurant on the roof of the Madame Tussauds building in London, which incorporated living architecture, interactive interiors with electronic textiles, and celebrity chefs.
She said: "I found the whole experience of the Tussauds project very exciting. I think it's great that my course has these amazing opportunities that give the students a real taste of working for the industry. I enjoy visiting Merlin attractions so I feel very fortunate to be given the chance to be involved in their futures projects as part of my placement this summer."