Maesteg: Voices of Freedom

4Pi created Voices of Freedom for Maesteg Town Hall, turning the venue into an immersive environment where visitors of all ages could move through installations inspired by wartime memories shared by local veterans and the wider community. Rather than presenting Remembrance as a fixed historical narrative, the team built the exhibition around the idea of personal encounter: each installation offered a different kind of engagement, from active participation to quiet contemplation.

Maesteg Town Hall is a civic venue, not a gallery. The team needed to turn a functioning public building into an emotionally weighted immersive environment that could hold the gravity of Remembrance while remaining accessible and welcoming to families, school children, veterans and casual visitors alike.

The subject matter required particular care. The wartime memories came from a close knit South Wales Valleys community where the people who shared their stories would be walking through the finished exhibition.

The technical challenge sat alongside the emotional one. Camera-sensor interactivity, large-scale projection mapping and a mirrored infinity environment all needed to function reliably inside a listed building with limited rigging options and limited technical infrastructure.

4Pi developed the concept, curation and creative design in-house, working directly with local veterans and community members throughout. The centrepiece was a large-scale reproduction of the Mametz Wood painting, projected onto the Town Hall stage. Camera sensors tracked visitor movement, causing the image to reveal itself gradually as people approached. The effect turned a static artwork into something responsive and alive, rewarding presence rather than demanding attention.

Interactive projection-mapped poppies offered a lighter, more participatory experience. And at the heart of the exhibition sat the Room of Reflection: a candle-lit mirrored environment that created an infinity effect, designed in close collaboration with the community as a space for stillness.

The exhibition drew positive responses from visitors and local representatives. 

Audiences became active participants rather than passive observers, with motion-tracking technology bringing artworks to life and encouraging personal engagement.

Overall, the work strengthened connections between heritage, technology, and local voices, demonstrating how immersive design can make cultural storytelling more accessible, memorable and emotionally resonant.