Waihi's gold mine of information

28 Sep 2017

A beige museum, but with colourful stories to tell and even richer stories below the ground – this week, Heritage Rescue II reveals the dramatic tales of Waihi’s past in this fascinating episode. From the 1880s, the lure of gold attracted speculators and miners from all over the world. In 1908, Waihi was the fastest growing town in the North Island. The challenge is to turn this museum into a goldmine... but how far can you go in showing the life of a miner?

The ‘rescue'

The entrance to the museum and display area was quite washed out and underwhelming and is given a major overhaul.

The large exhibit room where the main mining story is told is completely painted with rich warm Resene Sambuca over the walls and ceiling. This colour mimics the dark internal earthy environment of the gold mines as well as providing an excellent way to create a dramatic display environment with spot LED track lighting.

All of the high windows are MDF covered and painted over with Resene Sambuca.

The new dark rich brown interior enables the internally lit original museum model displays to really shine and get the attention they deserve.

All of the cabinet exteriors are painted in Resene Sambuca to create a consistent display approach, and this same colour carries through into the adjoining room and hallway creating flow throughout the museum displays.

The entrance hallway and reception areas needed to transition into the dramatic main exhibition colour palette. The warm light hessian ochre and beige colour of Resene Castaway is used for the hallway walls to create a calming effect while still linking to the deep brown of the exhibition area. The wall mural uses Resene Castaway and Resene Sambuca in its colour scheme to further link the overall colour choices.

The dramatic deep blue tinged red of Resene Dynamite is used for the hallway reception area, creating a strong accent and blast of colour on entry – this is an excellent tool to encourage and lure visitors into the museum.

See this week's episode of Heritage Rescue II on Choice TV on Saturday, 30 September, at 7.30pm and Sunday, 1 October, at 5am and 2pm.

Published: 28 Sep 2017