Brighton Royal Pavilion Showcases Dragons Created by Northbrook College Students 

Prop Making students from Northbrook College have brought mythical creatures to life at Brighton’s Royal Pavilion after being commissioned to create a series of dragon tails and dragon eggs. 

Photo Credit – David McHugh and Brighton Museums

Layla Pitts, Kimberley-Irene Scifleet, Cerys Wilson, and Cameron Clack, who all study Prop Making & Special Effects at the college, were tasked with creating the series of pieces within a three-week deadline  

The intricately designed pieces have formed part of the ‘Explore the Palace of Dragons’ exhibition at the Royal Pavilion, which invites visitors to explore the power, beauty and mystery of the world’s most iconic mythical creatures.  

The designs complement some of the existing dragons, which were carved as part of the original designs, and can be found across the Pavilion. They feature a variety of dragons, featuring designs based on those from across East and West Asia.  

The project originated after the students contacted Brighton Pavilion as a group. For their course, they must reach out to potential clients by emailing and messaging people and companies they would like to work with.  

Brighton Museums, which look after the Brighton Pavilion, as well as other museums across the area, replied to their email and commissioned them to create the designs.  

Discussing how quality was maintained throughout the project, Layla Pitts said:  
“We literally production lined the whole thing, one day everyone was cutting, the next day everyone was sticking. Everybody did a little bit of everything.”  

Kimberley-Irene Scifleet added:  
“Somebody was heat treating; some people did some sticking. Some people were detailing as other people were starting to paint. We then put everything together; we did it in steps, definitely streamlined as much as possible.”  

When asked about their quality control for projects like this, Kimberley said:  
“We have high standards, and we don’t want to say, ‘it’ll do’. We want the pain job to look good. We want to make sure it’s dry, we want to add some extra details to it.”  

“We also do a final check over the day before. We may see a bit of paint we’ve missed there, or that bit of paint has bled, and we’ll touch it up.”  

Layla added; “We used some hold spray paint to make everything shimmer a little. Just a light dusting of gold to make sure everything sparkles a bit in the light.  

To find out more about the exciting exhibition, which is open until November, please click here.

To learn more about the Theatre, Performing & Production Arts courses available at the college, please click here.