Wayfinding
Culture & Civic
LLDC
The vision for Sadler’s Wells’ new dance venue in Stratford was to create a flexible, purpose-built space for mid-scale contemporary dance in London. The aim was to provide a generous stage for performers and an intimate experience for the audience, serving as a center for creation and participation, discovery, and excellence.
Our wayfinding design was inspired by a series of different vision statements: inclusive, welcoming, connecting, and sharing; positive and optimistic energy; creative, challenging, daring, transformative and experimental.
Our initial design concepts centered around the theme of dance. Our goal was to create something innovative that captured the dynamic movement symbolic of Sadler’s Wells.
From the initial concepts, we chose a direction that explored the relationship between materiality and graphics, aiming to create signage that conveyed a sense of movement.
The finished article is a simple yet distinctive suite of signage that brings information to life in an innovative way. With architects O’Donnell + Tuomey describing the building as a “three-dimensional brick experience,” the signage and wayfinding system takes flat graphics beyond two dimensions, creating more engaging and dynamic user interaction.
The new world-class dance facilities and spaces will support artist development, training and the creation of new work, with flexible infrastructure enabling people to experience a variety of performances and events. The centre is now open.
