Craigdarroch Castle Kitchen

With over 150,000 visitors a year this National Historic Site was once home to the Dunsmuir family. The Dunsmuirs became rich through the exploitation of Vancouver Islands coal resources. This mansion and Hatley Castle (located in Colwood, BC) reflected their extraordinary wealth.

The interior is richly decorated and furnished except for the kitchen. Documentation of its original layout and furniture is non-existent to date. Changing occupants since building completion in 1890 such as family home, military hospital, college, school board, music conservatory and museum transformed and distorted the kitchen layout further. In an effort to return the space to its original state recent reconstruction revealed the existence of additional walls and inquiries about the kitchen content “mystery” are ongoing. This empty space juxtaposed the richly furnished home and provided the opportunity for a contemporary, interactive exhibit. These images show phase 1 of this project.

“The creative team at Lime Design took a loose idea to bring interactive elements to the newly restored kitchen space and developed it into a creative and engaging experience for our visitors. From our initial design discussion to fabrication and installation, Lime Design managed the project with professionalism, creativity. They were genuinely excited about helping us create an exhibit that is dramatically different from our traditional period room presentations, and we had fun developing the content with them. I look forward to working with them on phase two of this project!”

John Hughes
Executive Director, Craigdarroch Castle