The Great Pagoda at Kew

Devising a way to tell the story of the pagoda in Kew Gardens for Historic Royal Palaces in 2018 was a fantastic challenge. There are 10 floors, but the space on each is limited as it's a narrow building and there are stairs up the middle of it. We worked with exhibition designers Skellon Studio to commission some brilliant illustrations and interactive exhibits. Lucille Clerc screenprinted and hand-finished all the illustrations on the ground floor and Fi Henshall created two amazing automata, displayed in bespoke cases by Sebastian Cox. Lou Tonkin produced hand-printed bases for the automata and Margot Lombaert designed all the graphics.

Photos ©Richard Lea-Hair

Kew Pagoda ground floor
Fi Henshall automaton Canton
Fi Henshall automaton Kew
Fi Henshall automaton Kew detail
Illustration of King George and text
View through floor
Dragon
Great Pagoda at Kew