From Complexity to Confidence
Case Study: elevating the guest experience at Washington State's largest event facility.
Michael Courtney Design creates a transformative wayfinding & information system for Seattle's Washington State Convention Center
Seattle, WA
Three years ago, Mike Courtney, principal of Michael Courtney Design (MCD), received an unexpected voicemail with an invitation to participate in a Wayfinding Master Plan RFQ. The caller was the wife of a former co-worker and a Project Manager at EHS Design, the architectural firm leading the $21 million Interior Renovation Master Plan at the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC).
As an experienced Seattle-based design firm, MCD offered an opportunity for an integrated, intimate partnership with EHS and WSCC. The firm's impressive portfolio includes local industry leaders Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington, and Kemper Development (the company behind Bellevue's $430M Lincoln Square mixed use project) but the real differentiator was the company's design philosophy, "Our team uses the term 'Concierge' to describe the role of branding and wayfinding. A good signage system greets, guides, informs and enhances the user experience, just like a good concierge in a hospitality setting," says Mike Courtney. Mike and his team won the bid for the new wayfinding and information system, and watched the second phase of the project come to life at the WSCC earlier this year.
Tired System, Outdated Technology
The 30-year-old wayfinding system at WSCC struggled to greet, guide and direct over 400,000 guests each year. Built in a challenging urban location, the success of the original building led to three expansions, spreading across several city blocks and creating the largest meeting and event facility in Washington State. During a series of updates, the design vision of the original program was lost, resulting in a confusing mix of design and directions powered by outdated technology and missing elements. Schedules at Conference rooms used paper signs in cabinets, reminiscent of a 1970s high school cafeteria menu board, while floor level indicators were absent, disorienting guests using eight different entrances to access four floors.
Elevating the Guest Experience
The goals for the new program: develop an easy to understand, branded information system to help users navigate with confidence and comfort. Link the diverse spaces together with a new system authentic to the existing and updated spaces and architecture. Elevate the guest experience.
MCD took a hands-on approach to the project spending hours at WSCC observing visitor behaviors, reactions and navigation patterns. With a better understanding of visitor's needs, MCD designed a clear and concise wayfinding program that works in harmony with the function of the space and needs of the client. The overall design is clean and contemporary, using hospitality grade materials and aligning with EHS Design's interior architecture changes. The signage color palette includes warm brown wood, greens and blues, and silver typography. To add to the contemporary feel, MCD chose a clean, modern typeface, and designed the overhead signs with a thin profile. The WSCC logo and color palette was embedded into 3form Varia Ecoresin; a translucent material that has a soft glow when illuminated.
In the main lobby, MCD introduced a distinctive landmark ("Welcome") to greet visitors, incorporated technology at key locations and developed a consistent, easy-to-follow graphic language. The end result is a transformational wayfinding solution consisting of nearly 2,000 unique signs created with the building blocks of a successful communication system in mind: consistency, continuity, and a design language that connects with the audience.
The success of the project depended on a seamless collaboration between the MCD team, WSCC, EHS Design, Square Root Design and Tube Art Sign and Display. The initial phases of the wayfinding program and new technology is in place, with the third phase including the "Ring of Fire" scheduled for implementation in 2016. For a preview, watch the project teaser: https://vimeo.com/106017905
