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The RIBA Plan of Work Framework for managing construction projects

When to Appoint Wayfinding Consultants

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Successful delivery of large complex building projects requires an extensive team of specialist providers. To avoid costly contract variations and make sure the project remains on track, the timing of these appointments is critical. As signs tend to be installed towards the end of the build, you’d be forgiven for thinking you don’t need to worry about the wayfinding until the latter stages. Do so at your peril – here we explain why you should consider appointing a wayfinding consultant during the concept design stage.

Front cover fire safety building regulations document

Wayfinding Signage Fire Safety Regulations

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The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 comes into force in January 2023. Mandating the installation of wayfinding signage in all multi-occupancy residential buildings 18 meters or seven storeys high. Here’s an overview of what you need to do to comply.

Totem with text ranged in direction of travel

Wayfinding Procurement

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For most significant property development projects, sooner or later wayfinding or signage will come up on the to do list.  If it’s something you’ve not had to deal with recently or ever – trying to identify suitable suppliers could prove a little baffling.
Here’s a little guidance on how and where to find suitable suppliers for the job.

What do Wayfinding Consultants Do?

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Not really sure what wayfinding is or what a wayfinding consultant does? Here’s a quick explanation of what it is and isn’t and the role of the wayfinding consultant.

Composite images of different uses of digital screens in wayfinding signage

Digital Wayfinding Signage

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AI, virtual/augmented reality and Internet of things might be stealing the tech limelight, but for wayfinding designers, the pace of change in digital screen technology is equally enthralling. The robustness and resolution seems to be accelerating along with a relative reduction in price (and increase in acronyms). Are we approaching a tipping point when it comes to the cost of incorporating digital screens in wayfinding signs? And how to you choose the best option for your scheme?

How to assess your wayfinding

Assessing Wayfinding Schemes

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When designing a new wayfinding scheme a range of methodologies can be used to test and shape the outcome. But how can we assess the contribution to the performance of the business or destination as a whole? Here we explore different ways for evaluating the performance of wayfinding schemes.

Amenity signs made from recycled paper

Lifecycle Approach to Wayfinding Design

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A key sustainability challenge for anyone involved in commissioning, designing or manufacturing wayfinding signs, is to think well beyond day one. To future -proof and lengthen the operational life of the information, by really exploring what the likely requirements will be in 2, 5 or 10 years’ time and factoring these into the design. All the while recognising that at some point, the scheme will have outlived its useful life and designing sign forms so that component materials can be easily recovered to be recycled or repurposed.

Composite image of different signs

Wayfinding Scheme Maintenance

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When specifying a new wayfinding system, it’s important to factor in the ongoing maintenance costs. Beyond ensuring the physical infrastructure is safe and kept in good order, you need to think about how frequently the information may need updating; the extent of likely changes; how critical the response time will be and budget. Feeding these into the design process will help ensure that the scheme is affordable over the long-term.

Composite image of different sign types

Wayfinding Language

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Every sector, discipline and business establishes its own language. Using single words or acronyms to represent more complex constructs that act as communication shortcuts. It’s all very well if you’re in the know, but it can be a huge barrier to understanding if you’re not. So for anyone experiencing his or her first encounter with the world of wayfinding we thought it would be helpful to put together a bit of a checklist.