The challenge

Manchester Metropolitan University is undergoing a renaissance. We are working with MMU as part of its Estate Masterplan Investment Programme to deliver a coherent wayfinding strategy for both external and internal signage across its campuses. With so many different elements to the wider strategy, and various physical improvement works taking place over a number of years, it’s been important that the wayfinding strategy can be implemented in phases to help movement across the campuses.

What we did

Following on from interim signage work in 2018 at gateway locations, we’ve been continuing to work closely with the university. We’re helping them remain operational during several important building projects and helping them implement their brand in both their temporary and completed spaces.

We developed a signage masterplan that fed into the estate works, which set the details for how all signage (external, building entrances and internal) should look.

We advised on how best to give public realm spaces an identity to help people navigate the campus. An important aspect was naming spaces so that they become destinations, and using external pockets to connect people together and create a logical route between the university’s Birley and All Saints campuses.

In the future, we’ll be moving onto the next phases of the Estate Masterplan Investment Programme: designing up all the external mapping for the campus, and delivering internal signage in key buildings across the university estate.

Why it works

It’s a wayfinding and branding strategy that sees the complete picture: with careful phasing of temporary and permanent solutions it means that the busy campus can still be navigated and enjoyed throughout redevelopment works, with as little disruption as possible.

Once this wide-ranging project is complete, whatever MMU building you walk into, or wherever you are on the campus, you’ll be able to see the university’s brand shine through.