The Old Government House restoration and adaptation won three awards at the 2009 National Trust Heritage Awards.
It won Gold Awards in the Queensland Heritage Council and Governor's Heritage Awards as well as the John Herbert Memorial Award as the overall winning project for 2009.
Reopening to the public on 7 June 2009, the classic Greek Revival style home stands against the backdrop of Brisbane's skyline, now thick with the shimmering glass and steel of corporate towers, as a reminder of 19th century colonial life and our state's humble beginnings.
ToadShow was commissioned by QUT, caretaker of the building, to create a number of interpretive multimedia exhibits telling the story of Old Government House and the people who lived and worked in it. The old private drawing room now serves as the museum entrance and reception area, where most of this interpretive content is housed. Our work ranged from the large-format graphic design of backlit interpretive panels, to video production, 3D animation, interactive multimedia development, procurement of hardware, fit-out and installation.
Our Work
Highlights include an 8-minute documentary telling the story of Old Government House, presented by Sigrid Thornton. Shot in luscious high-definition on the RED camera with slow dolly tracking throughout, the video captures all the grandeur and sweeping beauty of the building in a captivating visual style. Archival images are creatively used, with one particular scene employing special effects and green screen to morph the now empty drawing room back to how it looked in 1900, complete with furniture, wallpaper and decoration.
The Governors Interactive is a touch-screen kiosk containing the biographical information of each of Queensland's first eleven governors and key events from their time in office. As a personal touch, it includes a look at each governor's family life - after all, the House was a home as much as it was a state office.
The 3D Timeline, another touch-screen exhibit, provides a chronological overview of additions, alterations and upgrades to the House since it was completed in 1862. Each new phase is illustrated by a scaled 3D model 'fly-around' animation, with the user progressing to the next stage at their own pace.
Old Government House 3D timeline from Robert Whyte on Vimeo.
The Panorama is an interactive visual exhibit on a 1.5m wide screen, showing a digitally restored 1870s panorama photograph of Brisbane stretching from Mt Coot-tha to beyond Kangaroo Point, with clickable hotspots over key points of interest. The exhibit is driven by a trackball and built with QuickTime VR software.
