Retail experience inspired by history
Reimagining the shop for one of Scotland’s top attractions
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Our design seamlessly connect the visitor journey from the subterranean Real Mary King’s Close tour with its retail space through a design concept that takes inspiration from Edinburgh’s 17th century market stalls the Luckenbooths, the city’s first permanent shops.
The design respects the room’s listed status, with elegant retail fixtures along the perimeter walls that reflect the symmetry and proportions of the architecture and original wood paneling.
Revelling Edinburgh’s local history
One of the main stories of The Real Mary King’s tour relates to the plague doctor who, cloaked from head to foot in black and wearing a beak-like mask filled with spices and rose petals, attempted to treat those afflicted by the pneumonic and bubonic plagues as the worst outbreaks ravaged Edinburgh around 1645. To highlight this, we created large lightboxes showcasing a map graphic of old Edinburgh that surrounds a life-size mannequin of the plague doctor in original costume. On either side, curious products can be found.
We invested in our fantastic Burgh Courtroom to ensure our guests are getting the highest quality visitor experience as possible. We’re proud to show our guests our gift shop transformed to a space that is reminiscent of the time and feeds into the social history of Mary King’s Close itself.
Paul Nixon
Real Mary King’s Close stands out as one of Scotland’s best loved visitor attractions. Our collaboration with the team at Real Mary King’s Close and Continuum Attractions gave us the unique opportunity to elevate the visitor experience by seamlessly bridging the atmospheric subterranean journey with the return to ground level and the magnificent 18th Century courtroom.
James Dwyer
