The Helix park was opened in 2003 with a mission to create a green space to connect and engage its surrounding communities. Covering some 860 acres crisscrossed by 27 kilometres of connecting footpaths and cycle routes, the Helix is a much-treasured part of the Falkirk Community. In 2013 the Helix shot to international renowned with the construction of The Kelpies, the world's largest equine sculptures at 30 metres high. Designed by sculptor Andy Scott, the Kelpies have quickly become one of Scotland's most popular attractions, drawing crowds of both local and international visitors.
Driving tourism at one of Scotland’s most iconic attractions
Welcoming the World
We started looking at the Helix as part of our comprehensive website overhaul for Falkirk Community Trust, who own and operate the park alongside a broad suite of other attractions and facilities across the area. Unlike their other attractions though, the Helix already had its own standalone website, reflecting its unique international appeal and its importance as a key revenue driver for the Trust. Whatever we built had to serve a dual purpose of continuing to encourage tourists to come and see the majestic sculptures in-person, while crucially serving the local community by highlighting the various ways they can use and enjoy the park ongoing.
Tourism Drive
We simplified the user journey of those visiting the area by putting the Kelpies Tour front and centre, making it easy to find practical information such as opening times and tour prices. With a growing majority of the site's traffic arriving on mobile devices, we were sure to implement a mobile-first design approach to optimise the booking journey using the Helix’s preferred ticket partner, Digitickets.
The site aims to excite potential visitors with large, immersive photography and video of The Kelpies in their picturesque environment, balanced by controlled use of white space to ensure the site is easy to digest visually. A concise, bright colour palate assists to highlight key information without distracting.
More than just the Kelpies
The Helix has become synonymous with the Kelpies, but the Trust was very keen that the new site served as a platform for all of the park's amenities and attractions. A dedicated 'Things to do' section is full of helpful information on how to make the best use of the park's features, with Google Map API integration to help users find their way between them.
The park is well used by the local community, so it was important to make it easy for repeat visitors to find the numerous events and activities that happen within the park daily. Prominent call-outs encourage those interested to sign-up to the Helix newsletter, for a regular digest of the most popular events delivered to their inbox.
Visitors' great days out can be shared on key pages through integrated social feeds, while the story of the local area and its kelpies is delivered in a rich dedicated history page.
The Story Continues
The Helix site was developed as part of our work for the Falkirk Community Trust, and serves to support The Trust's aims in the community alongside two of our other sites; The Hippodrome, Scotland's oldest purpose-built cinema, and the event-driven, community-first parent site for the trust itself.
All sites are driven by a single Umbraco content management system installation, making it faster and easier for operatives from all areas of the trust to add events and edit great content, while our targeted ongoing digital marketing helps them reach new visitors every day.
