We believe that authentic stories and dimensional, multisensory experiences – the core strength of museums and exhibitions – have unmatched power to forge genuine human connections. Roto projects are bold and inspiring, blending an immense range of interpretive and interactive modes that help transform how visitors think and feel about their world and themselves.
We are optimistic about the future of museums. We view the rise of digital media as an asset, not as competition. We believe strongly in the power of well-designed exhibits to help strengthen social bonds between visitors, the institution, and the communities they serve.
Museums excel when they combine the spark of intellectual excitement with the resonance of genuine human emotion. Roto excels by combining popular and accessible interpretive techniques within rich multisensory environments and immersive media to elicit lasting meaning for visitors of all ages and interests.
Roto is the premiere, trusted museum design partner from strategy through sustainability. By integrating expert planning, design, technology and execution under one roof, exhibition projects from 1,500 to 150,000 square feet can be delivered to exceptional standards of innovation and quality on time and budget without destructive “value engineering.”
Roto's planning services include architectural programming and assessment, interpretive frameworks and development, exhibition concepts, cost and feasibility analysis, marketing and fundraising support, and other key strategic functions that enable emerging museums to take the next logical step, and existing institutions to renew their missions and experiences.
Exhibition conceptual design assesses existing assets, develops central themes and ideas, revises floor plans, and creates compelling visuals to propel fundraising or the next step in creative design. Outcomes can take the form of colorful illustrations, loose storyboards, or bound and narrated concept books that blend words and images to tell the project’s full story.
Roto provides a full spectrum of interpretive development and design services for museum exhibitions, including content research, writing, education programs, architectural design, and A/V integration. We also provide engineering of casework, graphic design, themed environment design, interactives, and media. This versatility is matched by generous flexibility, coordinating Roto's skills with a museum's in-house capabilities and preferences.
Roto’s visitor-centered values engender an original and spirited approach to interpretation that is aimed at promoting intellectual curiosity and effective storytelling. We believe that meaning and understanding are enhanced through equal commitments to curatorial scholarship and visitor evaluation, investing in creative conversations and testing with content experts and visitors alike.
With design, engineering, and fabrication professionals working together daily under one roof, Roto’s design practice naturally incorporates an extensive array of mock-ups and prototypes for interpretive and interactive elements throughout the development cycle. A unique partnership with Dublin City Schools brings hundreds of K-12 visitors inside Roto’s facility (averaging more than one visit per week) to participate thoroughly in these efforts.
Roto is both a design firm, and a design-build firm, with equal passion. However, the company evolved its highly efficient design-build model expressly around the opportunities for enhancing visitor participation and engagement with art, objects, cultural stories, historical events, and scientific concepts. For exhibitions requiring deep experiential integration between design, prototyping, and fabrication, Roto offers a single, focused project team problem-solving together under one roof to deliver projects of any scale to guaranteed budgets and deadlines.
