What to expect when you’re expect­ing a build­ing addition…signage-wise, that is.

Build­ing an addi­tion on to your health­care or senior liv­ing facil­i­ty? Here are 3 big ques­tions to make you a sig­nage hero!

1. What are the brand­ing goals of the addi­tion and/​or facil­i­ty? Are you adding a new health­care ser­vice or depart­ment? Is this an entrance that will make vis­i­tors’ lives eas­i­er? Are there any updat­ed brand­ing plans on the horizon?
2. How does this new addi­tion affect the flow of traf­fic? If this hasn’t been brought up in the design plan­ning, it’s time. Ana­lyze cur­rent traf­fic pat­terns, exist­ing wayfind­ing sig­nage, and how the new addi­tion ​“plan” could affect these pat­terns. Will there be ​“tem­po­rary paths” that will need to hap­pen dur­ing con­struc­tion? Always keep spe­cial atten­tion to Urgent and Emer­gency Departments.
3. Is there a donor recog­ni­tion com­po­nent to this new addi­tion? What are the cam­paign com­po­nents? Are there nam­ing rights? Has a donor wall and/​or loca­tion been dis­cussed? Hav­ing these ques­tions answered ear­ly will help to ensure there is not an exit sign, fire pull, or sim­i­lar obstruc­tion on the wall that is the best loca­tion for a donor recog­ni­tion display.

Mer­cy Med­ical Cen­ter — East Expansion

This grow­ing facil­i­ty added on an entire­ly new entrance and face of the hos­pi­tal that required com­plete inte­ri­or and exte­ri­or wayfind­ing. Hous­ing pre­na­tal ser­vices (includ­ing obstet­rics and neona­tal inten­sive care); crit­i­cal care; and the Ruan Neu­ro­science and Edu­ca­tion Con­fer­ence Cen­ter meant direct­ing patients and vis­i­tors to the new entrance, and more impor­tant­ly, a thor­ough review of the exist­ing facil­i­ty and plans to adjust exist­ing wayfind­ing sig­nage. Exte­ri­or wayfind­ing was most crit­i­cal as a new entrance meant redi­rect­ing some patients and vis­i­tors away from the main hos­pi­tal entrance. Once in the new East expan­sion, ele­va­tor, over­head and cor­ri­dor direc­tion­als effi­cient­ly get you to your destination. 

This new addi­tion was also a direc­tive to design a com­plete new sig­nage sys­tem incor­po­rat­ing ele­ments of the inte­ri­or design, and also be flex­i­ble enough to be used in the exist­ing areas of the hos­pi­tal. Brand­ing was added at key deci­sion points. Col­ors were coor­di­nat­ed close­ly with the inte­ri­or design pro­fes­sion­als so the sig­nage would com­ple­ment the fin­ish­es of each floor in the new addi­tion. Donors were giv­en spe­cial recog­ni­tion as the title spon­sor in a few key areas. 

Read the full case study and vis­it Mer­cy­One web­site to learn more about this great facility.

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