We have been working with British Land to help activate one of its premier retail spaces, Broadgate Arcade. Positioned right in the heart of London and next to Liverpool Street Station, Broadgate is packed with premium commercial buildings with ground floor retail uses, and is one of the largest pedestrianised neighbourhoods in central London. The arcade itself forms a key route through to the railway station.
This fine grain urban form is undergoing a transformation with major construction work taking place at Liverpool Street Station. British Land has devised a new brand which highlights Broadgate as a collection of dynamic urban spaces.
Our task was to take the new brand and convert it into a temporary signage concept (temporary, because pedestrian routes around construction work are continually moving) to help direct pedestrians through the arcade and down to the station on the level below.
A common issue in a retail space is that there is already a lot of branding on display. Our challenge was to successfully communicate the Broadgate brand within the arcade over the “noise” of individual retail brands; the ultimate objective being to help increase footfall through the arcade and enhance the sense of place in this busy commuter thoroughfare.
Guy Warren, Design Director
We came up with a series of concept designs and worked with British Land to develop a scheme that successfully evokes the premium nature of the complex.
We skinned existing anti-ramming bollards to create removable “sleeves” that act as totem signs. And we devised a free-standing totem sign concept with a dynamic shape that reflects the graphic devices within the brand.
The free-standing signs are made of a light aluminium to enable them to be easily picked up and moved as routes change but are held in place by concrete weights, so they stand up against strong winds (and mischief makers). They’re also designed to be easily updated as shop information is printed on replaceable films, in the knowledge that retail units are constantly changing.
