Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum

London, UK

Set in the glorious Grade 1 listed building, The King's House, the Salisbury Museum's archaeological collections include prehistoric material from South Wiltshire and Stonehenge, the Pitt Rivers' Wessex collection and a grand medieval collection with items from the Old Sarum, Claredon Palace and the city itself, which tell the unique story of continuous human achievement over the last half a million years.

During 2012 the Museum was awarded a grant of almost £1.8 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to be used towards the development of the Wessex Gallery of archaeology. The new gallery, which totalled £2.4 million, recounts the story of Salisbury and the surrounding area from prehistoric times to the Norman Conquest. Amongst the gallery's prized artefacts are some of the most important archaeological finds outside of a national museum in Britain.

London lighting design consultancy, Sutton Vane Associates, were given the complex task of designing the lighting scheme for the new gallery's display cases, each of which were custom-made by UK showcase manufacturers, Mayvaert. Given the age and historical importance of the artefacts being displayed, it was imperative that the lighting didn't cause any irreversible damage and so Sutton Vane Associates opted to specify our fibre optic products that are free from ultraviolet rays and heat.

Our made-to-order Light Bar system is used to illuminate the gallery's thirty large display cases, with 27mm diameter light bars installed in the sides of the cases, providing minimal distraction to visitors. Each light bar has been made to match the height of its case and features a flat front on which our mini trumpet extrusions are fitted. Once fitted the trumpets are then adjusted to accentuate specific details of the artefacts.

Powering all of the light bars are thirty of our Mercury LED light sources, each of which are located in the base of the display cabinets for ease of access. The Mercury was chosen for its high CRI >90, choice of colour temperatures and dimming functionality, all of which are ideal for display illumination.

Images courtesy of Hufton & Crow