Loci Stories

Loci Stories was a research‑through‑design project in partnership with Seaton Delaval Hall, exploring how interactive systems can support polyvocality; the presence of multiple voices and perspectives within heritage spaces. In collaboration with an academic team led by Violeta Tsenova, Gavin Wood, and David Kirk, we brought our skills in design and fabrication to translate ideas into real installations.

Our work focused on creating physical interventions that could carry and express narratives. We participated in the project from early concept through prototyping to installation, making sure each piece embodied the project’s values of openness, ambiguity, and participation.

The installations took the form of small interactive units placed around Seaton Delaval Hall. Each one played recorded voices from people connected to the Hall triggered by touch or movement. Some also invited visitors to contribute their own responses, gradually building a growing archive of perspectives. Designed during the COVID period, the units also considered contactless interaction to keep the experience safe and accessible.

We also helped with community engagement and with how the work was shown both at the site and in academic and public sharing of the research. The project ended with a paper at DIS 2023, where it was recognised for how design can thoughtfully support diverse voices in cultural heritage.

For us at Raskl, Loci Stories was an opportunity to push the boundaries of how material design can engage with technology and narrative. It challenged us to think deeply about how spaces speak and how we can build structures that invite people to listen, reflect, and contribute their own stories.