FAQ frequently asked questions

We believe the environment should help people take part — not become another barrier to overcome.

How we put that into practice

People experience the same environment differently.

For some autistic people, people with ADHD, people with sensory processing differences and other neurodivergent or disabled people, noise, intense or flickering light, crowded spaces, unpredictability, being hurried or being expected to remain still can make participation much harder.

That is why we use a sensory-considered design approach.

We consider illumination, glare and flicker, sound levels and frequencies, pace, crowding, predictability, space, movement, choice and opportunities to step away.

We do not create a conventional experience first and then ask how to adapt it for people who face barriers.

Accessibility is part of the design brief from the beginning.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine an autistic child who loves light and music but becomes overwhelmed when an event is loud, crowded and unpredictable.

Rather than asking that child to tolerate the difficult parts, we question those parts themselves.

Does the music need to be loud? Does illumination need to flash? Does everybody need to move through at the same speed?

An Evening Installation can instead offer considered visitor numbers, places to pause, harmonic sound, carefully controlled illumination and freedom to explore at a comfortable pace.

The child has not been given a separate experience.

The experience has been designed differently from the outset.

We believe natural outdoor environments can create better conditions for nervous system regulation.

How we put that into practice

Our choice to work outdoors is deliberate.

For some neurodivergent and sensory-sensitive people, conventional indoor environments can become dysregulating. Artificial lighting, background noise, visual clutter, confined space and room acoustics can all add to what the nervous system is being asked to process.

We think about this in terms of sensory coherence: considering sound, light, movement, space and pace together rather than allowing them to compete unnecessarily for attention.

Outdoor environments give us a different starting point. Sound has more space to disperse. People have more freedom to move and choose their distance. Stepping away does not necessarily mean leaving the experience altogether.

The outdoor environment is part of the design.

Our Outdoor Sensory Spaces use that freedom for self-directed exploration. Our Evening Installations use landscape, darkness, music and illumination to create experiences people can move through at their own pace.

Being outdoors can create barriers too — including weather, temperature and uneven ground — so it still requires careful design.

We begin with an environment that can offer space, movement, choice and retreat — then try not to design those advantages back out of it.

This approach is rooted in direct sensory experience and more than a decade of Forest School practice observing how differently some children engaged when the environment around them changed.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine an autistic child making music in a school hall.

They may hear not only the instrument, but its sound reflecting from the walls, floor and ceiling, mixed with voices, other instruments and background noise.

For someone who finds competing sounds difficult to filter, that can quickly become overwhelming.

Take the experience outside and two things change: the sound has more space to disperse, and the child gains more control over their relationship to it.

They can move closer, step back, listen from the edge, find a quieter position or leave the immediate activity and return when they are ready.

Instead of asking them to tolerate the environment in order to participate, we give them more control over distance, intensity and involvement.

We have not changed the child.

We have changed the conditions in which we are asking them to take part.

We believe creativity should be available before mastery.

How we put that into practice

Learning a traditional musical instrument can bring enormous satisfaction.

But it usually requires time spent developing technique before somebody can freely express themselves through it.

That may involve sustained concentration, repetition, fine motor control, confidence, following instructions and sometimes remaining physically still.

Those demands are not equally accessible to everybody.

So we deliberately lower the threshold for creative participation without lowering the value of the creativity itself.

Our instruments and exploratory apparatus are designed around the principle that there is no wrong note to play and no wrong move to make.

Musical elements can work harmonically together, allowing experimentation to produce something coherent rather than a musical mistake.

This creates self-directed exploration: people can discover, repeat, move, stop, return and create at their own pace. The same creative principle sits at the heart of the interactions proposed for our AfterDark — Garden of Illumination concept.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a child with ADHD who finds a conventional music lesson difficult.

They may be highly creative, but sitting still, repeatedly practising the same action and concentrating through the frustration of acquiring technique may be a significant barrier.

Using our equipment, they might play one instrument, hear something interesting, move elsewhere, discover another sound, return later and begin creating alongside somebody else.

Nobody needs to say:

Sit down. Concentrate. Start again. That note was wrong.

Their movement and curiosity are not obstacles to creativity.

They become part of the way the creativity happens.

We believe there should be more than one way to take part.

How we put that into practice

Meaningful participation cannot depend on everybody having the same mobility, dexterity, strength, speech, confidence or cognitive ability.

We design for agency — a person’s ability to make a choice or take an action that has a meaningful effect.

In our Evening Installations, interaction might happen through touch or movement, but it can also respond through presence or proximity, allowing somebody with much more limited movement to influence what happens.

We are exploring technologies that can translate whatever movement a visitor has available into changes in music or illumination. That approach is already built into both the AfterDark concept and Interwoven’s accessibility commitments.

The goal is not for everybody to interact in the same way. The goal is for everybody to have a meaningful way to participate.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine two visitors approaching the same installation.

One child runs between elements, pressing, striking and moving things.

Beside them is someone using a wheelchair with significantly more limited movement.

Physical access means ensuring both can reach the installation.

Meaningful participation asks something more:

Can both of them change something?

A proximity-sensitive element might respond as somebody approaches. Another might translate a small available movement into sound or illumination.

Different forms of movement can still have equal creative value.

We believe creating together can become another way of communicating and connecting.

How we put that into practice

Communication does not only happen through conversation.

Some autistic people find conventional social interaction difficult. Some people are non-speaking. Somebody else may speak very little English. Two strangers may simply have no idea what to say to one another.

Shared creativity can provide another point of connection.

This is co-creation: different people contributing to the same creative experience.

The idea comes from real experience as well as theory. Interwoven’s founder previously ran participatory music workshops and describes seeing isolated and sometimes non-communicating strangers become a coherent group through making music together.

The creative experience becomes a place where communication can happen.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a non-speaking autistic young person exploring an instrument.

Another visitor begins playing nearby.

Because the instruments belong to the same harmonic system, their sounds begin to work together.

One pauses.

The other responds.

The first plays again.

Nobody has required conversation, eye contact or a particular style of social interaction, yet they are listening and responding to one another.

Now imagine the second visitor speaks very little English.

The mechanism still works.

Creating something together provides the common ground.

That is why we say:

When we create together, we find connection with each other.

We believe access should lead to participation, contribution and belonging.

How we put that into practice

Getting through the door is only the beginning.

Somebody can physically enter an accessible space and still feel that the actual experience was designed for somebody else.

So our thinking goes beyond access.

We are interested in agency, meaningful participation, dignity, connection and belonging — whether people can explore, make choices, contribute and feel that their presence matters.

Access means I can enter.

Participation means I can join in.

Contribution means what I do matters.

Belonging means this experience includes me as part of it.

Recognition, belonging, safety, pride, freedom, curiosity, dignity and connection are already identified among Interwoven’s intended outcomes.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine somebody who usually attends interactive events as an observer because most interactions require movements they cannot make.

At an Evening Installation, simply approaching an element changes its illumination.

Another visitor notices and begins interacting with something nearby.

Now both people are influencing the same environment.

The first person’s presence was not merely accommodated.

It contributed to what everybody else experienced.

That is the difference between being allowed into a space and being part of it.

We believe accessibility and inclusivity are connected — but they are not the same thing.

How we put that into practice

For us, accessibility means identifying and reducing barriers within the experience itself.

That includes physical access, sensory intensity, communication, movement, pace, predictability and the different ways people can interact.

Inclusivity asks a wider question: even if the experience is accessible, who might still be left out?

Cost can exclude people.

Transport can exclude people.

Language can exclude people.

Culture or religion can make an experience feel as though it is not for them.

So our work has to address both.

Our equipment encourages intuitive exploration rather than depending on written instructions or spoken English. Our portable model allows experiences to be brought into schools, respite settings and community spaces. Our current plans also include free or concessionary places and transport support where cost or distance would otherwise prevent participation.

Accessibility asks: what might make this difficult to take part in?

Inclusivity asks: who might still be missing, and why?

That second question is particularly important. Current National Lottery Community Fund guidance asks applicants to identify who is hard to reach, why, and how they will make participation easier — almost exactly the distinction we are making here. (The National Lottery Community Fund)

What this could look like in practice

Imagine an Evening Installation carefully designed for an autistic child.

The sensory barriers have been considered, there is space to move and there are different ways to interact.

But their family cannot afford the tickets and does not have a car.

The experience may be accessible, but it is not yet inclusive for that family.

A concessionary place could address the financial barrier. Transport support could address the geographical one.

Another family may have no accessibility requirement at all but choose not to attend Christmas, Halloween or Guy Fawkes events because those celebrations do not align with their beliefs.

These families need different things.

Accessibility helps remove barriers within the experience. Inclusivity keeps us looking beyond them.

We believe people should not have to share the same beliefs to share an experience.

How we put that into practice

Many evening cultural experiences are tied to celebrations such as Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night, Christmas or New Year.

Those traditions are meaningful to many people.

They are not meaningful — or appropriate — for everybody.

Some families may avoid them because of sensory intensity. Others may choose not to participate because the celebration does not align with their religious, cultural or personal beliefs.

Our Evening Installations do not require that shared tradition.

They can instead centre on music, illumination, landscape, curiosity, interaction and discovery.

This is not an idea added later for funding purposes. Providing cultural access for people who do not participate in mainstream seasonal celebrations for cultural or religious reasons forms part of Interwoven’s stated company purpose.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine two families.

One celebrates Christmas.

The other does not.

They may not attend the same Christmas attraction.

But both can enter a garden transformed by music and illumination.

Both can explore.

Both can play.

Their children can shape the same installation together.

The shared experience is the thing they have in common.

We believe accessibility should not mean creating something separate or lesser.

How we put that into practice

We are not trying to create a specialist version of a “proper” cultural experience.

Nor should careful sensory design mean creating something less imaginative.

Our question is:

Can accessibility become part of what makes the experience beautiful?

Choice, space, interaction, lower sensory intensity and freedom to explore can support people who need them while also enriching the experience for people who simply prefer them.

The AfterDark concept is explicitly designed on this basis: primarily considering neurodivergent, disabled and sensory-sensitive visitors while remaining an arts experience for everyone.

Somebody may need those choices.

Somebody else may simply want them.

Both should be able to enjoy the same experience together.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a parent whose child cannot cope with the bangs of a firework display standing beside a couple who simply dislike noisy events.

Their reasons for being there are completely different.

The child needs the alternative.

The couple simply prefer it.

Neither needs to be placed into a separate category.

The same experience can serve both.

We believe powerful experiences do not have to come from sensory intensity.

How we put that into practice

Cultural experiences are often made more dramatic by increasing sensory load:
more volume, brighter light, more flashing, more people, more movement.

But those are creative choices, not rules.

Our Evening Installations explore another route.

Sound can be harmonic rather than jarring. Illumination can transform a landscape without relying on unnecessary glare or rapid flashing. Darkness can be part of the composition rather than something to eliminate. Interaction can create depth because the visitor discovers that the environment is responding to them.

The AfterDark concept is deliberately described as tranquil, immersive and imaginative rather than built around high-volume spectacle and overstimulation.

We are not trying to remove the magic. We are reconsidering what the magic can be made from.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a child who loves the idea of a light trail but spends much of the visit covering their ears and asking to leave.

Now imagine a different evening.

They discover that stepping somewhere creates a musical tone.

Another visitor joins in.

Further ahead, something begins glowing as they approach.

There is beauty.

There is discovery.

There is interaction.

There is wonder.

Its impact does not depend on overwhelming the senses.

We believe the place should shape what we create — not simply host it.

How we put that into practice

A garden, arboretum or heritage site is not an empty stage waiting for us to fill it.

The landscape, existing light, darkness, acoustics, architecture, planting, routes and atmosphere are already part of the experience.

So we work with the character of a place rather than trying to overwrite it.

That principle is built into Interwoven’s wider purpose, which includes supporting heritage gardens, arboretums and natural settings as cultural venues. The public knowledge base describes the venue as the first layer of the design.

For AfterDark, designed to be presented inside an arboretum or similar setting, that means non-invasive, removable work intended to protect plants, wildlife and the historic gardens, with the site left as it was found afterwards.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine creating an installation around an established garden.

We could arrive with a standard piece and make the garden fit around it.

Or we can begin with what is already there.

A fountain can become a focal point.

Existing trees can shape where illumination appears.

Darkness can remain part of the composition.

Visitor routes can respond to the landscape rather than cutting across it unnecessarily.

The artwork grows from the character of the place.

The setting is not scenery around the experience. It is one of the things from which the experience is made.

We believe safety, accessibility and creative freedom should be designed together.

How we put that into practice

An experience that encourages curiosity and self-directed exploration still needs clear boundaries, tested equipment and responsible delivery.

Interwoven’s current development plans put insurance, DBS checks, safeguarding training and properly tested installations before public delivery. Planned public capacity is to be set through an accessibility-aware site survey, visitor-flow mapping and health-and-safety assessment rather than by squeezing in the largest commercially possible audience.

Technical development also includes weatherproofing, protected electrical supplies, cable management and an external technical/electrical safety review.

For proposed venue installations, necessary licences, permissions, insurance and technical checks form part of the planning before opening to the public.

The aim is not to remove freedom in the name of safety.

It is to do the safety work properly so people can explore with confidence.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a child moving freely between interactive elements at an evening event.

To them, it should feel intuitive.

Behind that simplicity sits the less visible work: equipment has been tested, routes considered, cables secured, electrical systems protected, visitor numbers managed and safeguarding responsibilities understood.

The visitor gets freedom.

The responsibility for making that freedom safe stays with us and the venue.

We believe positive impact matters more than private profit.

How we put that into practice

Interwoven Arts is a Community Interest Company.

We need to earn money and become financially sustainable. Without that, we cannot continue creating anything.

But profit is not the end purpose.

The CIC structure exists for community benefit, and Interwoven’s developing model combines earned income with grants and other funding so that trading can increasingly support its social purpose.

That matters because accessibility itself can cost money.

Concessionary places cost money.

Transport support costs money.

Taking work into schools, respite services or care settings costs money.

Research, prototyping and evaluation cost money.

Those are not extras around the mission. They are part of the mission.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a successful Evening Installation generating earned income.

The question is not simply:

How much profit did it make?

It can also be:

What can that income make possible next?

Could it subsidise access for families who otherwise could not attend?

Could it support work in a school or respite setting?

Could it fund development of an interaction for somebody with much more limited movement?

Could it help us test the next version properly?

We measure success not only by what we earn, but by the positive impact that income allows us to create.

We believe good intentions need evidence.

How we put that into practice

Interwoven begins with substantial lived experience, but lived experience is not the same thing as universal truth.

Our design decisions are informed by:
lived experience, established research and feedback from the people we create for.

Then we test.

Our developing methodology considers how factors including light, sound, movement, predictability, agency, choice, interaction, crowding, retreat and nature combine to affect participation.

Our first pilots are therefore opportunities to gather evidence, not opportunities to pretend the work has already been proven.

We can ask whether people felt comfortable, whether they could remain and explore, whether they had meaningful choices, whether they experienced agency and belonging, whether they would return, and what participants, parents, carers, teachers and venues tell us. These measures are already identified in the viability work.

The process becomes:
research → design → prototype → community testing → evidence → improvement

What this could look like in practice

Suppose research and lived experience suggest an interaction should be accessible.

Then autistic visitors tell us the sound is too sudden.

A wheelchair user tells us it works technically but is awkward to approach.

A parent tells us their child became anxious because they could not tell what was going to happen next.

Those are not failures to hide.

That is useful evidence.

We change the design.

We test again.

That is how good intentions become a methodology.

We believe useful knowledge should be shared.

How we put that into practice

Interwoven does not need to own every good idea.

If established research already answers a question, we can point people towards it.

If another organisation is demonstrating excellent inclusive practice, we can share their work.

If our own prototypes and projects produce useful findings, we can publish those too.

Our aim is to bring together our own findings, established research, useful resources and the work of others who share our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity.

The viability work specifically identifies accumulated knowledge as a potential Interwoven methodology while recommending that the underlying principles and research remain openly shared.

What this could look like in practice

Imagine a school, arts venue or community organisation trying to make an event more accessible.

They may never commission Interwoven.

But they find our resources.

They discover established research, good practice from another provider and something we discovered while testing one of our own installations.

They use that information to improve their own event.

Nobody attended an Interwoven installation.

We made no sale.

But somebody had a better experience because useful knowledge travelled further than we did.

That is positive impact too.