A UNESCO World Heritage-listed site, the Hyde Park Barracks was the administrative hub for Britain's transportation program, moving convicts to Australia as forced labor for building the colony. Today, it stands as an extraordinary living record of early colonial Australia.

Together with Sydney Living Museums, our firm was engaged to transform the Museum, weaving together various narratives including the Aboriginal experience of colonisation.

Utilizing state-of-the-art bluetooth audio technology and visitor tracking software, visitors are immersed in the lived experience of convicts, immigrant women, and Aboriginal people impacted by European settlement, providing them the opportunity to learn and connect emotionally with these stories and their legacy for Australia. Visitors also hear from contemporary voices whose reflections on the Barracks bring its legacy into relevance today. Over 100 audio stories can be heard across the galleries, layered with environmental soundscapes that bring the site to life.

The original english script is attached as an addendum to this submission.

Pre-renovation, the museum explored the history of the site, and its convict, immigrant and legal chapters, but did not fully acknowledge the site’s role as an agent of colonial change and its impact on Aboriginal Australia and fell short of engaging new audiences.

Our design approach responds accordingly. Together our firm and Sydney Living Museums delivered a unique, future-facing visitor experience. Instead of traditional text panels, the museum offers a groundbreaking audio tour that boasts one of the most accurate real-time location systems ever used in a museum setting. Visitors’ movements are accurately tracked to within a centimeter, activating location-specific animations and interactions that bring history roaring to life.

By including multiple perspectives—convict, immigrant, institutional, Aboriginal—the exhibition embraces a new way of telling of Australia's history, ensuring that Indigenous voices are included, that Aboriginal ownership is acknowledged, and that the legacy of colonialism is examined.