Inspiring Heritage and Dead Walk Designs are heading to IAAPA Expo Europe following a busy year of new openings, major projects and growing connections across the Experience UK network.
With Peaky Blinders: The Underworld now open in London and work progressing on The Tank Museum’s major new Age Of Experimentation exhibition, the past year has brought together themed entertainment, museum design, physical delivery, interactive interpretation and emerging technology.
Richard Hale, Creative Director of Inspiring Heritage, will be attending IAAPA Expo Europe as part of the Dead Walk Designs team on Stand S4809. The show provides an opportunity to discuss recent project work, upcoming attraction activity and the value of collaboration across specialist disciplines.
Bringing Peaky Blinders Into A Physical World
One of Dead Walk Designs’ latest projects is Peaky Blinders: The Underworld, now open to the public in London. The experience brings the world of the Shelby family into a physical venue through detailed themed environments, period streetscapes and interactive entertainment.
For teams working in visitor attractions and live experience, the project demonstrates the importance of translating screen-based intellectual property into spaces that feel credible, atmospheric and operationally robust. Strong themed environments depend on more than visual recognition. They require materials, scenic detail, visitor flow and interaction to work together in support of the story.
Dead Walk Designs’ involvement reflects the growing demand for physical worlds that allow visitors to step inside familiar narratives and explore them through live, spatial and social experience.
Designing Age Of Experimentation For The Tank Museum
Alongside this work, Richard Hale of Inspiring Heritage is leading the exhibition and experience design for Age Of Experimentation, The Tank Museum’s major new exhibition due to open in early 2027.
The exhibition will explore the engineering experimentation of the interwar period, when designers were testing new ideas about the future of armoured vehicles. The project will combine original vehicles with hands-on interactives, digital experiences and character-led interpretation.
Rather than simply explaining what engineers achieved, the exhibition will invite visitors to consider some of the same design challenges faced by tank developers almost a century ago. This approach supports deeper engagement with technical history by turning complex engineering principles into clear, practical and participatory interpretation.
The project also brings together a wider team of specialists. Dead Walk Designs is supporting physical delivery and themed elements, while Aivaf is developing bespoke mechanical and digital interactives for the exhibition.
An Experience UK Network Connection
A further collaboration has grown directly from the Experience UK network. Richard first met fellow Experience UK member Performit LIVE at InnovationX, and that introduction has now developed into a live project collaboration.
Performit LIVE is exploring AI-integrated interactive interpretation for Age Of Experimentation, with the aim of creating historical characters capable of responding to visitors in ways that support the exhibition’s interpretive goals.
For Inspiring Heritage, this is a strong example of how sector introductions can move from conversation into practical delivery. The project brings together exhibition design, fabrication, mechanical and digital interactives, and AI-led interpretation within one museum experience.
Looking Ahead To The Show
With further attraction projects nearing completion, Inspiring Heritage and Dead Walk Designs expect to share more updates in the coming months.
IAAPA Expo Europe will provide a timely platform to discuss Peaky Blinders: The Underworld, Age Of Experimentation and the team’s wider museum and attraction work. Visitors can meet Richard Hale with the Dead Walk Designs team on Stand S4809.
Inspiring Heritage is an independent exhibition and experience design studio led by Richard Hale. With over 35 years of industry experience, the studio helps museums, heritage organisations and visitor attractions turn complex ideas into engaging, practical and deliverable experiences, from early concept and visualisation through to detailed design and delivery.
