From Story to Structure: Connected Canterbury Takes Shape

There is always a special moment in an interpretation project when drawings, visualisations and technical details begin to take physical form. For Connected Canterbury, that moment came during our recent visit to Trueform’s workshop, where we had the opportunity to see the project’s interpretation totems being manufactured.

Developed by Simon Leach Design as part of the wider Connected Canterbury programme, the totems are designed to reveal the rich and often unexpected stories embedded within the city’s network of Story Gardens. Our brief was to create a coherent heritage and contemporary experience that would make Canterbury’s history more visible, encourage visitors to explore lesser-known areas and offer interpretation that was more inclusive and engaging than conventional text-and-image panels.

Our design approach transforms each totem into a two-sided encounter. One side takes visitors back to a particular moment in Canterbury’s history, using concise, accessible storytelling, historical context and contemporary graphic pictograms. The other invites visitors to reflect on the story from a present-day perspective, encouraging conversation, debate and personal connections. The physical design reflects this layered approach. Each totem has its own distinctive silhouette, shaped around a key visual element from its story. Detailed illustrations act as visual hooks, while the information is organised as a grid of square graphic tiles, allowing visitors to engage with the content in clear, manageable sections.

Seeing these ideas move from screen to workshop was an exciting milestone. During our visit, we were able to review the craftsmanship and technical processes involved in translating the design into durable, high-quality structures for Canterbury’s public realm. The workshop offered a valuable opportunity to examine the relationship between materials, fabrication and graphic detail and to see how the distinctive character of each totem is emerging through the manufacturing process.

The project has been shaped through engagement with local stakeholders and the public, ensuring that the stories represented across the Story Gardens reflect the many perspectives, memories and histories that make Canterbury such a richly layered city.

We are grateful to the team at Trueform for welcoming us into the workshop and for their care and expertise in bringing the designs to life. We look forward to seeing the finished totems installed across Canterbury and becoming new points of discovery, reflection and connection within the city.