Behind the scenes: how we created Robin's Lantern Quest for the National Trust
What happens when a real family story, a frozen pond and augmented reality come together? We take you behind the scenes of one of our favourite projects.
The problem
Christmas at Wallington is magical — and increasingly popular. Over 20,000 visitors flock to the National Trust property during the Christmas period to enjoy the decorations, meet Father Christmas and hear live music in the central hall. But all that popularity was creating a problem. The House was under pressure. Queues were forming. Pinch points were appearing.
App screen shots introducing the story
The Wallington team needed a way to encourage visitors to explore beyond the House — ideally outdoors and ideally something more distinctive than another light trail that only really comes to life after dark.
The story that made it possible
The brief was inspired by a real story, told by the grandson of Lord Trevelyan, about the family's winters at the estate in the 1950s and 60s. During the coldest months, when China Pond froze over, the Trevelyan children would skate on the ice — and one year, they discovered a cupboard full of Chinese paper lanterns. They hung them in the trees around the pond and skated on the illuminated ice beneath them.
It was a perfect fit with Wallington's Spirit of Place, which is rooted in telling the stories of the Trevelyan family — the last family to live in the house. Joyful, nostalgic and completely unique to Wallington.
Final drawing of Robin by by Jennifer Ledgerwood
Hand drawn illustrations
We wanted the experience to feel gentle and beautiful. Like the feeling when snow has recently fallen. We commissioned a children's book illustrator, Final drawing of Robin by Jennifer Ledgerwood, who used watercolour washes and hand-drawn illustrations to create all the visual assets — including Robin, the robin redbreast, who became the heart of the trail.
What we built
Robin's Lantern Quest sent families on a trail through the East Wood to collect six lanterns hidden around China Pond. Each lantern was unlocked using image triggering — visitors pointed their phone at specific lanterns to unlock and save them in their app. Collect all six, and a magical AR skating scene was unlocked — Robin skating on the frozen pond, surrounded by glowing lanterns.
Visitors were then encouraged to take a photo of Robin skating on the pond surrounded by lanterns — and the AR experience could be enjoyed anywhere, including at home.
After completing the quest, a 20% café discount was waiting as a reward.
China Pond, National Trust Wallington
The reality of the ground
We walked the planned route before finalising the design — and it changed things. Our original plan had the lanterns hanging fixed in the trees. On the ground, we realised it would be far more engaging to make them free-floating, so visitors could move them around their screen, just as Robin could. That became one of the most loved features of the experience.
We also discovered during testing that some colours triggered more reliably than others. We adapted the colour range of the lanterns accordingly — a small but important detail that made the experience feel seamless rather than frustrating.
Photo of AR Robin at the replica pond in the House
The team that made it work
The wider Wallington team were central to the success of the project. Once they understood what was being created, they fully embraced Robin and his lantern trail. The experience was enhanced by a complementary replica pond display with video footage in the House, and a mini pond display in the Welcome Reception area to promote the quest. Their staff actively encouraged visitors to download the app on arrival — and our analytics confirmed it worked. The vast majority of people started using the app immediately after downloading it, telling us that on-site encouragement was the primary driver of engagement.
Testing AR view of Robin skating on site at the China Pond
The results — and the surpriseThe numbers were strong. Over 1,000 downloads in just two months. An estimated 2,760 visitors engaged with the app on site. 750 people claimed the café reward — 27% of all app users. 500 enamel Robin badges sold out by the first week of January.
But the biggest surprise was what happened after the visit. Visitors were opening the app an average of 3.5 times each. The trail itself could be completed in a single visit — so those return visits told us something important. People were coming back to rewatch the AR skating scene, explore the Learn More content, and play with the AR experience from home. Digital engagement doesn't have to end when the visit does.
What we learned
This project confirmed something we believe deeply at Flo-culture — the best digital experiences are rooted in the real stories of a place. The technology didn't make Robin's Lantern Quest special. The Trevelyan family story did. The technology just made it possible to bring that story to life in a way that felt magical, memorable and completely unique to Wallington.
Interested in creating something like this for your site? All projects start with a conversation.