The Inverness Castle Experience.

Five years in the making, the Inverness Castle Experience transforms one of the Highlands’ most recognisable landmarks into a fully integrated visitor experience – one built around people, place and identity. Turning Inverness Castle into the Gateway of the Highlands. Celebrating the regions heritage, culture and people.

One of the defining features of this project is that stories run through the entire experience, from the Inverness Castle Experience in the South Tower, to the Saltire Bistro in the Link building and Spirits experience in the West Tower, temporary exhibition spaces and Ceilidh Rooms in the North Tower, retail and Gardens.

  • Tapestry of the Highlands - A changing exhibition showcasing work by over 600 stitchers, celebrating community craft and storytelling
  • Ceilidh Rooms - A flexible exhibition and performance space, including live music, storytelling and touring exhibitions
  • West Tower – Spirits experience. A sensory, exploration of Highland distilling, centred around a dramatic ‘spirit waterfall’ AV installation
  • Link Building – The Saltire Bistro where visitors can enjoy the taste of the Highlands. Through integrated interpretation around the bistro visitors can learn more about the story of the castle.
  • Retail - Designed as a continuation of the narrative, with products directly inspired by the stories, illustrations and themes within the experience
  • Gardens - Outdoor interpretation through planting, folklore and Gaelic heritage, with interactive elements and night-time storytelling installations

Each element is woven together by a shared narrative, ensuring a cohesive journey for visitors from the moment they enter the castle grounds.

It’s a complete experience, where storytelling, scenography, landscape, retail, food and beverage are all working together to tell the story of the highlands.

At its core, the project brings together community-sourced stories, Highland culture, Gaelic language, and a carefully choreographed spatial journey that moves from interpretation into immersion.

The challenge

The ambition was clear – the project needed to embody the Spirit of the Highland from the moment visitors enter its grounds through:

  • A deeply community-led narrative, shaped by voices from across the Highlands
  • The cultural and linguistic significance of Gaelic, not as an add-on but as a foundation
  • Working with a complex historic building, with multiple towers and functions
  • The expectation of a modern, world-class visitor attraction

At the same time, the experience had to resonate both locally and internationally, while navigating significant public scrutiny and cultural sensitivity around representation.

Building the story from the ground up

This experience was built around a single question: What does the Spirit of the Highlands mean to you? More than 100 stories were gathered and curated, forming the foundation of the Inverness castle experience design. These stories shaped:

  • The narrative themes of landscape, culture, heritage and community
  • The spatial sequencing of the experience
  • The tone, voice and emotional rhythm throughout

Visitors move through a series of curated environments – from the Landscape rooms to the Ceilidh Fire – where audio storytelling takes precedence over traditional interpretation.

Designing with Gaelic culture at the centre

Gaelic isn’t layered on top of the experience – it’s embedded into its structure.

This informed:

  • A dual-language content development process from the outset
  • The use of audio as the primary storytelling medium, reflecting oral storytelling tradition
  • The introduction of the Seanchaidh as a guiding narrative voice throughout

The result is an experience that feels culturally authentic without needing to explain itself – where language, rhythm and storytelling form part of the design, not just the content.

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Blending authenticity with theatrical scenography

The design balances real voices and lived experience with immersive, experiential techniques.

Across the castle:

  • Portraits, illustrations and objects support the narrative
  • Scenic environments create contrast between natural and built heritage which sets the scene for the stories told in the castle.
  • Lighting, sound and projection are used to build atmosphere and connection

This approach allows the experience to feel both grounded and memorable – authentic in its content but elevated in its delivery.

The entire journey is designed with a clear endpoint.

The immersive Spirit Show brings together the themes, stories and voices encountered throughout the castle into a single, emotionally driven finale – using light, sound and 360 immersive projections to inspire visitors to go out into the Highlands to create and share their own stories.

The result

The Inverness Castle Experience delivers something more than a visitor attraction.

It creates:

  • A genuinely community story-led narrative with a real emotive connection
  • A culturally authentic experience shaped by Gaelic language and Highland culture
  • A seamless journey formed by storytelling, interpretation and immersion
  • A fully integrated offer, where retail, landscape, food and beverage are part of the story

Most importantly, it leaves visitors with a clear sense of the Spirit of the Highlands, inspiring visitors and locals to go out and explore the Highlands.

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