Wayfinding interventions for commercial estates

Our legacy of work in Cambridge goes back to 2007, with wayfinding projects delivered in both the city centre and North West Cambridge campus. But our recent appointment at Cambridge Science Park has reminded us of the differences when designing wayfinding interventions for estates primarily accessed by car, as compared to pedestrians in an historic centre.

Put simply, someone looking at a sign from within a vehicle has a very different perspective from someone on foot.

Here’s how we tackle a commercial estate project.

Getting the information hierarchy right

Estates on this scale – whether commercial, industrial, science or retail – invariably have multiple destinations and multiple tiers of directional signage to disseminate to users.

So the first important job we do, before any design work takes place, is to distil down the information into a clear hierarchy of information.

We take time to speak with the client and stakeholders to understand who the audiences are and what information they need at the different touch points along their journey.

This task was particularly complex at North West Cambridge, where we were tasked with creating a coherent addressing system for the various services, facilities and accommodation blocks on the campus devising a logical and user-friendly system to ease navigation.  

These early stages of a project often go on behind the scenes unnoticed, but they are key to the success of a place. Once a naming system is agreed, the design work can commence!

Getting the visitor’s first approach right

The key question when designing signage on the approach into an estate is:

Can the information be seen – and understood – from someone in a vehicle?

We carefully consider what information needs to be on the sign and, importantly, what doesn’t. A car user needs to understand the headline information – and quickly. So arrival signs give high level information, such as directing cars left to the car park, but avoid information that is too granular so as not to detract from the important message or cause confusion.

At Cressex Business Park we devised a clear information hierarchy to help users navigate this vast business park, which is embedded in a residential area, from the entrances to their destination.

The sign design itself must take into account of:

• Viewing distances
• The height and placement of information
• The size, colour and legibility of lettering
• Attracting attention safely
• Speed of travel of the drivers approaching

With these crucial design considerations under our belt, signs at the site entrance must also give a strong sense of arrival. We relished the opportunity for creativity at Alderley Park, the UK’s largest bioscience campus, using a gorgeous visual brand by design agency The Chase.

We adapted the logo into statement gateway signs, incorporating smaller numbers to allude to chemical formulas, coordinates and the periodic table. The monochrome colour scheme lent itself well to vehicular signs.

Identifying the right touch points across the estate

Wayfinding on a complex site like a business park will have multiple destinations.

Our analysis identifies destinations as well as touch points across the site, to help users make their way across an inevitably more complex route from A, via B, to C.

We then use this information to determine where to position signs within the estate, and what information is needed on each.

Keeping focus on the user’s perspective

With this scale of project, there are always multiple needs to consider for different user types.

While we think of these destinations as car-centric, all users ultimately become pedestrians once they’ve parked up and continue their journey on foot.

That means that our approach to information display must change too. We reduce the scale and height of signs and adapt information to be viewed more closely. And while we simplify information for the car user, we can increase the amount of information for the pedestrian and introduce mapping too, because the dwell time at the sign will be longer.

This progressive disclosure of information is crucial to getting the user experience right and helping people move along their journey with ease.

Wayfinding for commercial estates demands thoughtful consideration of the user’s perspective – literally as well as conceptually.

Vehicle users and pedestrians do have different needs, and it’s crucial that designs are adapted to take these into account.

But ultimately, the same fundamental principles apply as always: easing movement through clear information design and keeping the user’s experience at the heart of it all.

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