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20 Fenchurch St, London: Back of House Wayfinding

Brief:     Back of House Wayfinding
Client:    Landsec, Canary Wharf Contactors
Sector:   Offices

The two basement floors of this distinctive building  house the post room, loading bay, tenant storage, services, staff offices and amenities.  Arranged as a series of corridors with few distinguishing features,  information is needed to help people find their way around. When asked to design a back of house wayfinding scheme, we were mindful that tenant staff would be accessing the basement. So the design needed to be of an appropriate quality. For the staff, we were keen to establish a clear connection with the activities above and bring a little bit of The Sky Garden into the below ground spaces.

To assist with navigation between the levels a different colour is assigned to each floor and an overall plan provided at key intersections. 

Rather than create small discrete signs, super graphics were painted directly onto the walls. These help enliven and inject character into a previously sterile space in a highly cost effective way.

This playful approach is carried into the post room, where post-themed graphics decorate the walls, floor and reception desk. A large image of a sunlit sky, fringed by foliage, was applied to the ceiling tiles in the post and mess rooms –  bringing the Sky Garden into the basement. Establishing a clear connection with the link between the building’s most iconic feature, in a basement with a limited connection to the external environment.

Basement plan sign accompanied by large scale graphics providing directional information
Close up view of the basement plan sign within 20 Fenchurch St.
Image showing the internal view of a post room. The ceiling design features a photograph of a view of a blue sky seen through tree leaves. The back and left hand walls are decorated with large postage stamp graphics.
Large supergraphic of a shower and a male toilet symbol painted directly on the wall in the basement of 20 Fenchurch St
Large level -1 identification sign painted directly onto the wall in the lift lobby in the basement of 20 Fenchurch St
Examples of the large scale wayfinding and facility identification graphics in the wayfinding for the back of house areas in 20 Fenchurch ST

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