We're guided by the value of culture and creativity in shaping places with purpose.

Founding Director Dr. Sarah Barns brings extensive experience in policy and strategy, having designed and delivered a range of state and federal government investment programs throughout her career.

ESEM support clients to develop engaging and impactful engagement programs, unpinned by authentic engagement and storytelling approaches.

We work in partnership with urban designers, placemakers, cultural precincts and museum organisations through planning, governance, curatorial engagement and evaluation stages.

Past and present clients include Western Sydney University, Hassell, Sydney Airport Corporation, Sydney Living Museums and the Australian Museum.

We're known for our experiential public art installations that create multi-sensory spaces for storytelling and discovery.

We use the tools of projection and lighting design, immersive soundscape and installation design.

We love creating immersive spaces and experiences that connect diverse disciplines, technologies, creative practices to invite wonder and curiosity towards our magical, fragile, and always-changing world.

Example projects: Superorganism: Listening to the Anthropocene, STORYBOX Places, and more

We design and deliver digital heritage & interpretation programs that enliven connections to the history of a place. 

We're a research-led practice, drawing on many years' experience working across content creation and strategy, public history, interpretation design, public engagement and storytelling.

We take on ambitious research briefs, and design interpretation and storytelling programs that allow complex ideas to connect with audiences in new ways.

We also collaborate widely to share stories about people and place, working with First Nations storytellers, schools, community groups, local arts and heritage groups and local councils.

We work with an experienced team of audio-visual designers and technicians to deliver immersive and experiential installations and interfaces in outdoor environments.

Our infrastructure supports digital projections, sound installations, custom immersive displays and more. All our technical solutions are designed to be robust and resilient to withstand harsh Australian environments, from heat to storms and everything in between.

We also offer technical design services to clients seeking advice on audio-visual requirements for temporary or permanent displays and installations.

Clients include Sydney Metro, Museums of History, Bathurst Regional Council, the Australian Museum and more.

Co-Founder Dr. Sarah Barns brings in-depth experience in urban data strategy and digital strategy for cultural and public value outcomes.

Her book Platform Urbanism: Negotiating Platform Ecosystems in Connected Cities (Palgrave, 2020) is a leading text book on the impacts of digitisation on cities.

Past and present clients include: Government Architect NSW, Landcom, Urban Growth NSW, Committee for Sydney and CSIRO/Data61.

Co-Founder Michael Killalea brings over 20 years experience in brand and identity design and art direction services.

With a team of designers and producers ESEM execute new branding solutions and art direction across multiple formats, from print, digital to experiential outcomes.

Clients include Walker Corp, Paul Kelly Design, Sydney Opera House and more.