Design consultancy Mather has been awarded the contract for the upcoming £7.7m (US$11.3m, €10.6m) interactive visitor centre at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales.

Providing exhibition design and management services, Mather will produce an interactive museum experience that will explore the history of the Royal Mint, showcasing more than 1,100 years of coin manufacturing.

This is the first time in its history that the site – which produces 90 million coins each week, for 60 different countries – has ever officially opened its doors to the public. The purpose-built visitor centre will also house a retail shop, café, educational rooms and a ‘strike your own coin’ experience.

“This project presents an unique challenge to create a visitor attraction within such a high security site,” said Chris Mather, managing director at Mather.

“Coins provide a unique insight into history so it’s our vision is to use them to tell the story of the Royal Mint and the many key historical events that have taken place over the years.”

The project, which is expected to attract 200,000 visitors annually, is due to be completed in Q1 of 2016. The visitor centre has been made possible, in part, through a £2.3m (US$3.4m, €3.2m) grant from the Welsh government.