Strawberry Field, Liverpool

Strawberry Field and the original Victorian house were gifted to The Salvation Army in 1934 and served as a children’s home for some of Liverpool’s most vulnerable children. Now, a new visitor centre has been built with an exhibition giving unprecedented insight into John Lennon’s childhood and the inspiration behind one of The Beatles’ most iconic songs, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’

Challenge

The client needed an exploratory multimedia guide to accompany visitors through the exhibition that would complement the rich immersive multimedia, interviews and memorabilia already on display. The system also had to synchronise audio from large AV screens to the visitor’s device in different languages.

Solution

Imagineear worked closely with the attraction and exhibition designers to create the accompanying multimedia guide that tells the interweaving stories of the house, The Salvation Army, John Lennon’s childhood, and the writing and recording of the famous song. The guide includes video interviews with Julia Baird, John Lennon’s sister, filmed by Imagineear, as well as John Ashton, a long-term resident of Woolton near the Strawberry Field site.

The interactive nature of the exhibition required the Imagineear multimedia guide to synchronise with large display screens playing videos of interviews and documentary footage, delivering the audio to the visitor simultaneously in their own language on our MPti™ touchscreen device. The guide continues outdoor allowing visitors to explore the landscaped gardens, and is an opportunity for them to walk in the footsteps of John Lennon where it’s believed he played as a child.

The guide is available in English, French, Spanish, Mandarin and Brazilian Portuguese.

Innovation

“We are especially proud to have been chosen to provide the multimedia guide for this brand new visitor attraction at such an iconic Liverpool, indeed global, landmark. The site was being built as we worked on the tour, but thanks to our creative team’s vision and ability to coordinate with not just the client, but several other parties at the same time, we’ve been able to integrate the guide into a seamless and immersive visitor experience.”

Clare Cooper-Hammond, Managing Director, UK