A touch table with a small white factory model and an upright screen showing a red-lit blast furnace scene, station sign 6 Steel mill

STEEL WORKS

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FIELD OF WORK
Digital Design
Interactive Model
Exhibition Design
Interactive Model
Interactive Model
DELIVERABLES

Interactive Model & Media Installations

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INTRO

Parts of the old works in Hattingen no longer exist. For the foyer of the Henrichshütte Industrial Museum we built an interactive model that shows the former factory site as a whole again and lets visitors follow how steel was produced there.

The site is rebuilt in miniature from 3D-printed and laser-cut parts, including the areas that were demolished long ago. These models are arranged on multitouch tables, and next to them screens play precise animations of what once happened in each part of the works.

Key challenges

Rebuilding buildings that no longer stand

Animations registered to printed miniatures

One continuous process across seven stations

DIGITALES HÜTTENWERK

Its official name is Digitales Hüttenwerk, the digital ironworks. It opened on 16 October 2025 as the centrepiece of Ans Werk!, a workshop exhibition of the LWL-Museum Henrichshütte that runs until October 2027 and prepares the museum's new permanent exhibition (LWL press release). Two further media-scenographic installations by us complement the model in the same space.

At seven stations, visitors follow the process in its real order: from the delivery of raw materials through the blast furnace to steelmaking and finishing. Narrated commentary accompanies every step, in three languages. The blast furnace, the heart of iron production, stands at the centre.

Wide view of the model tables in the museum foyer, a screen and an orange station sign
Wide view of the model tables in the museum foyer, a screen and an orange station sign
A visitor's hand pointing at the model beside a screen showing a lit blast furnace
A visitor's hand pointing at the model beside a screen showing a lit blast furnace
Visitors bending over the illuminated model, a screen showing the works in red and blue
Visitors bending over the illuminated model, a screen showing the works in red and blue
A group of visitors around the model tables, one leaning in to read a screen
A group of visitors around the model tables, one leaning in to read a screen
Close-up of the model with a hand pointing, the screen showing the top of the furnace in cyan
Close-up of the model with a hand pointing, the screen showing the top of the furnace in cyan
A visitor photographing the model table, a tall column display in the background
A visitor photographing the model table, a tall column display in the background
A tall vertical display with a coloured rendering of a blast furnace beside an orange information panel
A tall vertical display with a coloured rendering of a blast furnace beside an orange information panel
scale model steel works
scale model steel works
CREDITS

Visuals & Animation: Xenorama
Music & Sound: Xenorama
Support Model Building: Seoyeon Lee
3D Print: 3DHB