Childhood in War is the UK's first major exhibition dedicated to how conflict shapes young lives, running at IWM London from July 2026 to February 2027. Scena delivered the setbuild, theming and decoration, alongside the interactives, showcases, graphics, and power and lighting distribution across the Level 3 special exhibition space.
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The exhibition asks visitors to step inside a child's experience rather than read about it, so the spaces had to feel lived in. Our workshops built and finished a sequence of recreated interiors, a wartime bedroom, a Cold War living room, a Second World War classroom, each themed and decorated to hold up under close inspection from visitors who are invited to touch, open and handle what they find.
Everything in a family exhibition gets used. Books get pulled off shelves, telephone dials get turned, drawers get opened. We specified and built to a standard that anticipates seven months of that, working through construction detail and finish with the design team so surfaces stay sound and repairs stay simple. Scale was a factor too: elements arrived through IWM's existing building and were assembled on site around a live museum programme.
Alongside the set build we produced the hands-on interactives, the display showcases holding objects shown publicly for the first time, and the exhibition graphics, including labelling set at a child's eye height. Power and lighting distribution was designed and installed throughout, tying case lighting, interactive stations and scenic lighting into a single coordinated infrastructure behind the finished surfaces.
Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum Lambeth
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