Project Overview

In collaboration with Geyer, Urbanite developed a concept approach built around the notion of ‘Boundless’, representing Westpac’s organisational and project aspirations and providing core drivers for signage and graphic forms. Urbanite’s creative strategy shirks disinterest. The subtle & tailored design approach is powerfully evident throughout.

Project Commissioner

Westpac

Project Creator

Urbanite a part of Frost Collective

Team

Creative Director: Anthony Donovan
Design Director: Charlie Bromley
Senior Design Manager: Adam Longo
Urbanite Senior Designer: Henry Ellis-Paul
Urbanite Strategist: Adam Longo
Photographer name: Ant Geernaert
Name any other practices/designers that collaborated: Geyer

Project Brief

As an initial tenant of Barangaroo, Westpac approached Urbanite to design signage, wayfinding, graphics & placemaking elements for its new 28-floor HQ, each 2300sqm. The project scope included all workplace floors, Wellness Centre, Atrium & specialty areas.

Project  Innovation/Need

As one of the largest Activity Based Workplace floor plates in Sydney, Urbanite identified key user spaces to create memorable and unique tactile signage, graphics, and placemaking solutions directly integrated into architectural materials and design features. This approach works to strengthen the user experience such as the 23m long concrete rendered graphic pattern assisting orientation and wayfinding.

Urbanite’s sophisticated response has added much more than wayfinding to the space by creating large, innovative and mindful pieces of branded storytelling increasing staff engagement and allowing the brand to resonate with subtlety.

The project has rewritten the blueprint for the city’s 3-building campus. Urbanite has translated Westpac’s brand ideas into tangible spaces connecting staff to its environment thereby developing a sense of place and journey unique to the brand. The creative partnership with Westpac has added real value by uncovering key user insights to create memorable branded experiences.

Design Challenge

Integration of Westpac Group’s values and aspirations through signage and graphic forms required expertise in environmental brand storytelling and competence in strategic branding. The work had to complement Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ design intent as much as it needed to work with Geyer’s interior design.

This approach worked to strengthen the user experience informing a strategically creative articulation of the brand. The integration of the signage program into existing elements, and the hidden meanings that pervade the entire fit out have resulted in the creation of an environment that is intuitive, sophisticated and highly engaging.

This comprehensive and complex signage project included items located on typical work floors, client floors and specialty floors containing Wellness Centre’s, cafes and external spaces. Apart from signforms, Urbanite designed wire framed plant walls, fabric walls, whiteboard walls, large joinery feature walls, integrated illuminated features and many more placemaking items throughout the floors. Urbanite’s service offered strategic, design and project management expertise.

Sustainability

As the firts tenant of the International Towers Development in Barangaroo, Westpac had a focus on supporting the precincts’ goals of becoming the first climate positive area in Australia. 

Urbanite looked to strengthen this intent by sourcing sustainable and local materials such as the coloured shed units. The strategy also focused on reducing the number of signs by integrating them within the existing architectural features and materials such as embossed surfaces, textured walls and cut-out structures. This resulted in a greatly reduced amount of materiality and energy costs in the project lifecycle.

Westpac Tower Two at Barangaroo was recently awarded a 6-Star Greenstar rating. 

Wayfinding

This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the ways people orient themselves in physical space, and navigate from place to place. Consideration given to signage and other graphic communication, clues in the building's spatial grammar, logical space planning, audible communication, tactile elements and provision for special-needs users.
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