studioRILEY design spaces, exhibitions, museums, and specialise in story and experience design.

We connect people, ideas and stories in real time and space with a sense of theatre.

We approach the practice of museum making as a process of understanding and of composition that envisions as its end point the encounter between the Museum, a moment, and the visitor.

Deep levels of contemplation, collaboration and exploration mean that our solutions are practical, inclusive, meaningful and poetic.

We prioritise the visitor: their imagination, their point of view, and their experience.

We consider the impact that making work has on wellbeing, communities, and on the environment.

  • We understand that the move towards heightening the sensory, emotional and participatory offer to museum visitors is about creating an environment in which they can be welcomed, excited, involved, challenged, inspired and entertained: and that this experiential approach is integral to a Museum’s social and educational aims of serving its communities.

    At studioRILEY, our practice - even before we begin exhibition or interpretive design - is something we call museum dramaturgy.

    Borrowed from theatre-making, the term ‘dramaturgy’ has its origins in ancient Greek: from drama referring to the ‘action’ or ‘doing’ and from ‘ergo’ meaning the ‘work’ or ‘composition.’ The action includes people; it is material, historical, and occurs in real time and space; composition brings its elements together.

    With museum dramaturgy, we approach the practice of museum making as a process of understanding and of composition - of architecture, histories, spectacle, information, feeling, economics, desires, needs and so on – that envisions as its end point, the encounter between the Museum, a moment, and the visitor.

    Method:

    We apply a method of working through ideas of ‘theatricality’ asking how its different qualities might be best realised to embody the Museum’s values and access its contents.

    We seek out the characteristics of component features of the Museum and its spaces and arrange them dramatically.

    We keep the visitor - their imagination, their point of view, and their experience - in mind.

    A dramaturgical process is always collaborative. We build worlds and narratives with stakeholders - clients and communities - through creative questioning and conversation; rigorous exploration of ideas and content; generative sketching and playful speculation.

    Hosting workshops, we float ideas, references, and provocations. We facilitate and input creatively, and find ways to visualise what emerges for clarification, feedback and further development. The result might be to propose an exhibition element, or an artist’s intervention, or space for a community project installation. Whatever form the outcome takes, we ensure the process moves forward to manifest a design vision.

    [see testimonial for our recent work in collaboration with AOC Architecture, for the Science and Media Museum in Bradford, UK]

  • Musée national de la Marine, Paris, France

    VINCENT BOUAT-FERLIER
    Conservateur en chef du patrimoine, Chef du projet muséographique

    “It was a great pleasure to work with Craig Riley during the 5 years devoted to the museographic renovation of the Musée National de la Marine in Paris.

    From the very first weeks we worked together, Craig was a great listener and made a real effort to understand the museographic project and the renovation team's wishes as to the expected result.

    In particular, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt to the complexities inherent in this type of major project, made all the more complicated by the situation linked to the COVID crisis and the ensuing uncertainties.

    With a keen sense of adaptability, he kept the project evolving in line with the developments brought about by the many parties involved, whose wishes could sometimes clash.

    Craig's benevolence and sense of humour helped to create a constructive and serene atmosphere, and he was a key player in the project and its successful completion. He was able to unite the teams around him, and his creativity helped to remove numerous obstacles, enabling us to offer visitors the most enjoyable experience possible.”

  • Different Kind, UK

    LIZ WARNER
    CEO

    [on hosting a collaborative creative workshop]
    “We all loved the session and everyone felt included and involved. It was great. Thank you for hosting such a collaborative session - everyone fed back so positively. And you created space that helped us draw out new content and language so thank you for that”.

    [on handover]
    ”Thank you so so much for the pop up box of tricks. So considered, so thoughtful and so well designed. So thank you for getting us to here and working with our partners. We appreciate your detailed thinking and your utter buy into the values of what we are trying to do.”

    GAIL SULKES
    Co-founder

    “Thank you so much - the end result is very exciting but it is the spirit that you created in the collaboration that is really important.”

  • Science Museum Group, UK

    MEGAN THOMAS
    Masterplan Project Director
    Science and Media Museum Bradford

    “We used studioRILEY as creative consultants, to help us find fresh perspectives on elements of our gallery design and interpretation. The combination of Craig’s vast experience with interpretative design, and Pamela’s ability to home in on the kernel of the stories we are trying to tell, was absolutely what we needed. They worked seamlessly with our creative and curatorial teams to help unravel some complex themes and helped find really engaging ways into stories for our museum visitors.”

  • National Maritime Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich, UK

    MIKE SARNA
    Director of Collections and Public Engagement

    “I have worked with Craig for many years - what makes him stand out is the care he takes listening and implementing a client’s needs; he is especially focussed on audiences too, and has a lot of experience working with communities in the development of his designs. He is good fun to work with and the result is timeless and stylish..”

  • Cité Internationale de la Gastronimie de Lyon / Musée des Confluences, France

    SOLENNE LIVOLSI
    Curator and Museographic Project Manager

    “I worked with Craig when he was Artistic Director leading the design of the permanent exhibition of the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie de Lyon. Craig had a deep appreciation for the historic architecture of this old hospital and very well understood the subject - especially the weight of attachment for French people about the intangible heritage of the UNESCO protected French Gastronomic Meal.

    He proposed a very sensitive visitor trail, including innovative objects and multimedia. His proposal was the perfect bridge between an ambitious theme and a determination to welcome a broad audience in this discovery.

    Craig also followed the construction phase of the project with all the providers (graphic design, lights, furniture…) to be sure about the quality of the delivery, to the opening.

    It was a great pleasure to work with Craig for his creative ideas, despite a complex situation. He stayed professional, helpful and contributed to make this remarkable project possible."

  • Victoria and Albert Museum, UK

    ANNA FERRARI
    Project Curator
    Ocean Liners: Speed and Style Exhibition

    Craig was very receptive and sensitive to our design brief for Ocean Liners: he instantly understood the exhibition and what we wanted to convey. He created a design that was powerfully evocative, clever and exquisite, all while enhancing the exhibition narrative.

    Craig took on board the challenges of the project and came up with creative solutions to suggest, for example, the scale and drama of liners – no mean feat in an exhibition space that was necessarily limited!

    Craig is also very collaborative and worked together with opera and theatre director, Netia Jones, to create two audio-visual elements that functioned seamlessly with his 3D design.

    Working with Craig on this project was a great pleasure and privilege!

Credit: @ Found Studio

Experience

After more than twenty-five years experience, Craig Riley set up his own practice to pursue the design of objects, spaces and experiences. 

As a Director at leading award-winning design firm Casson Mann, Craig led the design teams on milestone projects such as Lascaux and Cité de la Gastronomie in France, the Endeavour Galleries at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the Ocean Liners: Speed and Style exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Dundee, and the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in Canterbury in the UK. Recently, Craig was Lead Designer and Artistic Director for the transformation of the Musée National de La Marine in Paris.

By the end of 2023, alongside a number of private commissions, studioRILEY completed a consultation commission with a series of creative workshops with AOC Architecture on the ‘immersive and theatrical’ aspects of a project at the Science and Media Museum in Bradford, UK. And completed the first stage in providing an adaptable and reusable Pop-Up display kit for pioneering ethical retailer Different Kind, used so far at fifteen events over the festive period.

In 2024, the studio continues work for the National Maritime Museum in London and the Center for Computing History in Cambridge, UK. In a team with leading museum practice Wright & Wright Architects, the studio embarks on a major new gallery for the Science Museum in London.