Over the river and through the woods

Seamlessly integrating a massive parkland and popular business park through wayfinding and signage made the approach to materials a key consideration. Brittany Golob reports on Green Park’s brand

Located in Reading, about 40 miles outside of London, the Green Park, business park is home to the likes of Bayer, Cisco, HSBC, Pepsico, Huawei and other multinationals. Comprised of 195 acres of parkland, oriented around a man-made lake, as well as the glass and steel buildings that provide this office environment, Green Park is a unique space for businesses to breathe. However, the business park’s key features were often ignored by the roughly 5,500 employees on site due to poor integration and connection of the surrounding space into the office community.

Thus, Endpoint, specialists in wayfinding and the translation of brands within the built environment was brought in to create, design and implement a wayfinding system that would ease navigation around the large estate, and encourage people to explore the park further. Alison Richings, wayfinding design director, says Endpoint ensured the inclusion of walking times on the new signs. Thus, people would be encouraged to spend five minutes of their hour lunch, for example, walking to the lake, without fear of being late.

The design of the new system was key as it used materials that formed a connection between the parklike setting and the modern offices. Signs were made of anodised aluminium, “With a slight watery feel to the typography,” says Richings. The signs were completed with 12 wave-like glass panels that became more natural and flowing as the setting shifted across the estate. Endpoint balanced the needs of the tenants as well as Green Park by using a strategic approach to placemaking that allowed the tenants to be better integrated into the wayfinding and signage and to the estate as a whole.

“Endpoint’s ability to take the brand guidelines, develop them to work in the built environment and to such a high specification really impressed me. We have a beautiful, bespoke result that works and at its best
has encouraged people to take a break from their desks and venture out to explore the parkland and lakes beyond. Its beautiful design has drawn wide praise from our occupiers, and as landlord this is the feedback we strive for,” Roy Carson, director, Oxford Properties Group