Kostrena Seamen’s House is designed as a kind of journey between sea, land and sky, and this is represented in the space through four spatially separate but thematically connected units. The ground floor of the building is imagined as the sea, the first floor is the land, the loft symbolizes the sky and the staircase that connects them represents a journey. The client asked us for a solution for the implementation of multimedia equipment, through which the story of the life of seafarers and the impact of seafaring will be told. Our solution was accepted and we soon started with the execution and installation of the equipment.

Staircase – Journey

The entrance stairwell is conceived as the beginning of the interpretation experience and symbolizes the beginning of the journey. In order to be able to provide visitors with all the necessary information about the content offered by the Kostren Seamen’s House, we have implemented the AllSee WP43A interactive display in this space. On the vertically placed 43” touch-sensitive screen, visitors can find various information about the content of the exhibition as well as the overall heritage offer of the Municipality of Kostrena.

Ground floor – Sea

The ground floor of the building is a space that symbolizes the sea, and brings various themes to the visitor; the sea is life, let’s protect the sea, we need the sea and the sea is a danger. Through various testimonies of people who are related to seafaring and the maritime tradition of Kostrena, visitors actually get to know the topic and the relationship between man and the sea (entitiy – the sea is life). On the implemented Sony tablets TEB-15XP and TEB-22XP and on the multifunctional directional speakers Ultrasonic Acouspade Classic, visitors have the opportunity to see and hear the testimonies of, for example, a retired sailing captain. The tablets are mounted on Edbak GD22 supports and placed in “boxes”, and through the opening the visitor has the opportunity to experience the testimony intimately. The same was implemented for the needs of the theme, the sea is a danger.

First floor – Land

Upon entering the first floor, the visitor comes to the second part of the exhibition, which is the mainland. The aim of the space is to evoke the life of a seafarer and his family, and for these purposes we horizontally mounted two AllSee WP55A interactive touch displays on which materials are placed showing the chronological development of seafaring in Kostrena. We implemented a Sony TEB-22XP tablet in the table where the logbook is located, where visitors can find out more information. Moving through the space, we come to a closed part where we have implemented VUE2 VU-U4C DLP video/data projectors on Edbak PM3 ceiling mounts. Using a projector, visitors can experience a digitally assisted interpretation the change of the sea from calm to stormy offshore. For the purposes of content reproduction, we also delivered a multimedia computer for projection.

Loft – Sky

In the final part of the interpretation set-up, we come to the loft, which symbolizes the sky or maritime navigation. For these purposes, we installed a 65” interactive multi-touch table Mobo Fade 65” on which visitors can learn more about the sailors themselves, ships and navigation routes via an interactive application. Next to it, a Sony TEB-15CXP tablet is mounted on an Edbak GD22 mount, with which visitors have the opportunity to learn more about maritime navigation. The center of the attic space is intended for an interactive interpretation installation. It consists of a delivered rudder connected to sensors and a VR system. Using VR glasses and sensors on the helm, using the stars for navigation, the visitor navigates the ship by sea and sails into the port of Kostren. Everything is connected to a multimedia computer that projects that navigation on the screen in front of the helm through the implemented VUE2 VU-U4C projector.

Next to the Kostrena Seamen’s House, there is a subsequently attached space of the National Reading Room, which serves as an occasional exhibition space. For the needs of presentations and events in the reading room, we delivered and installed a Sony VPL-PHZ60 laser projector and MW Screens Rollfix Pro TabTension electromotive projection screen.

Interpretation center, the Kostrena Seamen’s House was officially opened on December 1, 2023. The house is managed by the Kostrena Cultural Center, a public institution on whose website you can find out more information about the set-up and working hours, and we invite you to visit the center and learn more about the sea and seafaring.