Our design concept for the guidance and orientation system for the whole outdoor area, an underground car park and the interior of the ›One Forty West‹ building derives from the architectural idiom of the buildings themselves.
The Senckenberg Quartier Frankfurt is an ensemble of four buildings: a hybrid high-rise, an office tower, a solitary office building and a day-care centre. Designed by cyrus moser Architekten, the ensemble shapes the identity of the centre of this quarter in the heart of Frankfurt. Our design concept for the guidance and orientation system for the whole outdoor area, an underground car park and the interior of the ›One Forty West‹ building derives from the architectural idiom of the buildings themselves.
Our design concept for the guidance and orientation system for the whole outdoor area, an underground car park and the interior of the ›One Forty West‹ building derives from the architectural idiom of the buildings themselves.
Oriented around the façade: our vertical key visual
Dynamic lines and grids in the façade design and strikingly different building heights, varying from 22 to 140 metres, characterise the image of the Senckenberg Quartier. We adopt this rhythm and translate it into a design language for the guidance system: The information carriers and wall lettering are based on a system of vertical lamellae and a horizontal set of lines. The colour scheme also derives from the building façades. Champagne-coloured letters and line elements are either raised or screen-printed.
The information carriers and wall lettering are based on a system of vertical lamellae and a horizontal set of lines.
Champagne-coloured letters and line elements are either raised or screen-printed.
A trend-setting colour system for the underground car park
The key challenge in designing a guidance system for an underground car park with 350 parking spaces across four levels was to give the different user groups a clear and quickly comprehensible means of orientation. Whether private residents of the hybrid high-rise, short-stay restaurant guests, hotel guests from out of town, or the tenants and visitors of the office spaces: The guidance system should provide intuitive orientation right around the clock.
Due to the many technical installations on the ceiling, we dispensed almost completely with installing any hanging signs. Instead, all information is affixed to walls and pillars. Easily visible for motorists in the upper third, and for pedestrians on the footpaths in the lower third, as well as on the walls of the access cores. The dark floor draws the eye away from the ceiling, and creates a strong contrast to the white markings and to the coloured areas and footpaths in gold, reseda green, dove blue and opal green – colour codes for the different user groups using the underground car park.
In accordance with the demand for high quality and functionality, we designed a set of individual pictograms that harmonise visually with the chosen font. A particularly contemporary touch is offered by the pictogram for parking spaces with e-charging stations.
Never seen one before? Why not come to Frankfurt? It will be easy to find! That’s a promise.
Whether private residents of the hybrid high-rise, short-stay restaurant guests, hotel guests from out of town, or the tenants and visitors of the office spaces: The guidance system should provide intuitive orientation right around the clock.