Presenting our Ideas

This afternoon, we met with the National Trust team to present our final design ideas through a white card presentation. A white card presentation is a meeting in which models, samples, and final design drawings are shown and discussed. It gives the designer a chance to talk through the design scheme and the meaning behind it, explain how it will work and allows for practical concerns and possible problems to be communicated. The National Trust team seemed to be impressed by the array of installations we have designed. The afternoon was spent talking through our ideas discussing the practical limitations and concerns the National Trust Team had, in addition to finalising a location for each artwork.


The relationship between Sir Henry Harpur Crewe and Nanette Hawkins has interested Helen throughout the entire design process. Helen’s 18^th century influenced costume design made from translucent and fragile materials, embodies the delicate nature of Nanette’s character and portrays how her husband’s possessively protective love made her become his most treasured and precious addition to his collections. 

Sir Henry Harpur Crewe most famously known as the “Isolated Baronet” communicated to his staff and family through notes and letters so was not often seen by the other residents of Calke Abbey.  It is this curious character both Bryony Ruth and Emily have been inspired by. 

Bryony Ruth suggests the almost invisible nature of the Sir Henry Harpur Crewe through her disguised costume design that will seem to disappear and blend into the building and contents of Calke Abbey.
 It was not uncommon for residents of well-established manor houses, such as Calke Abbey, to communicate to the servants and staff through instructional notes, either given directly to the staff or left throughout the building for the servants to find. It is this overwhelming nature of instructional direction Emily captures in her design; a flurry of hand written notes falling into a suggestive silhouette of former a house keeper.


Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe, also known for being an isolated character similarly chose to communicate with his family and staff through letters. But he did in fact have a loving relationship with his children, all be it in his own way. He used to write short and often playful poems about animals for his children. It is this relatively unknown collection of Vauncey’s Verses that Emma has chosen to use as inspiration for her design. Emma plans to create one or two of the animals through experimenting with various craft techniques which will then be displayed in amongst the collection of taxidermy at Calke Abbey.

Through a contemporary take on a traditional doll’s house, Ruth’s design captures Calke Abbey and the role it played within WWII. With layered “slides” depicting different scenes, the doll’s house set on 10 period suitcases, captures the lives of the soldiers and the 10 evacuee boys that served and sheltered at Calke Abbey during the war. 


Chloe has been inspired by the relationship between Calke Abbey and the natural environment that surrounds it. Through the illusion of vines and leaves forcing their way through the window of the principle stairs, Chloe's design exemplifies the physical deterioration of Calke Abbey caused by the natural environment surrounding it. 

As a visitor walking from room to room it’s easy to overlook what provides the backdrop for the overwhelming collection of portraits, furniture and artefacts; the wall coverings. It is this overshadowed collection I intend to bring focus to. Through replicating the intricate patterns of the wall coverings, I intend to encapsulate and decorate recognisable artefacts to provide a greater and more obvious physical presence of the wall coverings found within Calke Abbey. 

Jayne