Live virtual tours of the LLWR site are now available for key stakeholders
Interactive element with Executive team members added to Repository guided tour amid COVID restrictions.
A still of a page from the virtual tour, with options to compare how areas of the site developed over 12 months.
Guided virtual tours of the LLW Repository Ltd (LLWR) site are now available without ‘visitors’ leaving the comfort of their homes.
The tours, via Skype, include a live voiceover from a member of the LLWR Executive team, who is on hand to answer questions.
“We can no longer do 50 to 60 live visits per year, but we can still provide an authentic experience for visitors,” said Visits Coordinator Donna Glasson, who explained that all virtual tours for stakeholders must be arranged in advance and approved by LLWR.
Work on LLWR’s Repository Development Programme (RDP) rendered coach tours around the entire perimeter of the site impossible, so the first virtual tour was introduced two years ago for viewing from the main Conference Rooms on Site and in Pelham House.
This footage was updated last year when coronavirus made in person visits impossible and the live, interactive element has now been added as an additional feature.
The tour, which lasts up to one hour, starts with visitors viewing an interactive map of the site, with photographs, video and 360 degree views of key areas, including internal views of Magazine Retrieval Facilities, demolished since filming first took place in 2019.
It then progresses to a full virtual tour of the site, using footage captured by a camera perched on the front of a coach, with stops at key points on the site, for the LLWR host to provide additional information, as they would on a live visit.
Donna added: “The site’s appearance has changed greatly over the past two years, and it’s good that we were able to capture some brilliant archive footage of some structures that are no longer there. It is still an entertaining and informative experience.”
A camera crew will return to site this month to chart the changes since their last visit to ensure guests receive an up to date experience when viewing the tour. Regular updates will be scheduled as skyline changes occur.
The tours are also being utilised to introduce new members of the workforce for whom the regular site tour at the start of their employment is no longer available due to COVID-restrictions, to site based activities.