Burj Digbeth is a mammoth development in prime central Birmingham, serving up 160 luxury apartments all sold off-plan prior to completion. The development is deployed in 3 phases with Phase, or ‘core’ 1 ready for residents in late 2024. Overstone was commissioned to design, plan and procure internal wayfinding across the entire building.
Initial graphic design concepts were presented and signed-off for all wayfinding types, including door numbering, lift signage and corridor elements.
The work then overlaps into a form of quantity surveying – each of the seven architectural floor plans must be scrutinised to determine the quantity of signs required, their appropriate placement on each floor, and access between different clusters of apartments on one floor.
At this stage, procurement of the printwork itself can begin. Local printing houses Overstone has used for some years were contacted and a budget reached.
Here exists a play-off between quality and price. Choosing the appropriate printing house for the development is imperative to ensure a reasonable balance is struck so quality is not sacrificed.
To ensure durability of the wayfinding, and prevent its replacement in the short term, it was decided the printwork was to be fronted with clear Perspex and raised off walls with aluminium stand-offs.
As of December 2024, Core 1 wayfinding has been successfully installed to aid navigation around the property for residents, maintenance staff and postal services, with cores 2 and 3 installed as decorating completes across the remainder of the property in Q1 2025.
It is important to note that good quality, considered wayfinding is a legal and regulatory requirement. Building control demands that wayfinding meets standards including letter height, positioning, overall size and contrast ratios to ensure emergency services can clearly see signage in the event of a low-visibility fire emergency. Guests and residents with visual impairments must also be considered, which is a secondary reason for ensuring signage and wayfinding has a minimum letter height so the property can be navigated with ease for all.