Immersive Barco projection for multimedia experience center Schloss Hessen

Last November saw the completion of a two-year project to renovate and convert the stone barn at Schloss Hessen, Germany, into a cultural and multimedia experience centre. The project included bringing back to life a lost work of art, the Fuerstlich Braunschweigischer garden, which dates back to the 16th to 17th centuries. The memory of the castle’s historical garden is restored by means of meticulously created 3D reconstruction and a multimedia experience.

Context

Schloss Hessen and the surrounding park are of historical importance and have been preserved as a tourist and cultural centre for the region. The architectural style reflects that of the late Renaissance epoch, while the gardens are home to one of the largest botanical collections in northern Germany. The Stone Barn is one of the oldest buildings in the Castle Hessen complex, dating back to the late 13th century.

In 2020, the Schloss Hessen support association started an ambitious renovation project to honor the complex’ historical value and give visitors a unique perspective on how things looked during the heyday of the castle.

Challenge

To transform the Stone Barn into a Cultural Barn, the renovation team called upon graphic artists, historians and technology experts. In combining their know-how these parties recreated a realistic and immersive experience of the Fuerstlich Braunschweigischer garden.

project: syntropy, the creator of technology and display solutions for dome cinemas and immersive attractions, provided a turnkey immersive multimedia projection system which forms a 180° cylindrical theater including floor projection to bring the 3D content to life.

Solution

To effectively present this new 3D reconstruction to visitors, the project: syntropy team designed, manufactured and installed a 7-metre wide and 3.5-m high cylindrical projection screen together with a floor projection and a projector rig for 6-channel projection.

For high-resolution projection, the solution uses Barco’s 3D-capable F80 WQXGA projectors. The compact DLP laser phosphor projectors ensure long-term quality and easy maintenance. “The Barco F80 was a perfect match with its high light output in this otherwise challenging environment,” adds Christoph Bode CTO at project syntropy.

Sophie Herbrechtsmeyer, project syntropy engineer on site for the installation, says that “the tight integration with domeprojection.com’s Autocal and the embedded warp & blend engine provides that layer of trust knowing customer will have perfectly aligned visuals when needed.”

Results

The different parties involved were very satisfied with how the modern technologies restored the historical elements with honor. What’s more, following the renovation, the Schloss Hessen support association was awarded first prize in the category of “Exploiting the Opportunities of Digitalisation” by the Ministry for Infrastructure and Digital Affairs.