Promoting ‘wellbeing’

The design of the wayfinding strategy actively aims to promote patient “Wellbeing” using:

  • Inspirational, uplifting photographic images of local natural environments as thematic starting points for developing the identity of each floor
  • Bringing the natural environment in to an urban setting
  • Creates photographic vistas in a building which provides only urban views
  • Uses local environmental images to ensure the strategy is relevant to local people
  • Provides a thematic starting point for the generation of works of art which will supplement and enhance the identity of each floor and increase the quality of all public spaces
  • Communicates to all patients, in spite of their level of understanding or ability to communicate, using a cohesive, dynamic, inspiring and creative wayfinding and signage solution
  • Consistently looks to “Raise the Bar” in design, communication and creative terms
  
   

   


Creative Wayfinding

This project recognises that creative application of the arts can help to shape a more inspiring vision for the buildings in which health care and community services are delivered, and so make a positive contribution to the health and well-being of the whole community.

What is this for and why is wayfinding important?

The Oldham Town Centre, Integrated Care Centre (ICC) is a significant flag ship health and social care development for the Oldham Borough.

The project is part of the Oldham LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) programme being developed by Community 1st Oldham Limited (the Oldham LIFTco) on behalf of Oldham Primary Care Trust

The ICC is being developed in the centre of Oldham adjacent to the main bus station, providing easy access for both staff and patients. The development will be over ten floors and will be open to the public in Summer 2009.

This flag ship development will act as a central hub, providing health care services for the entire Oldham borough and will have a huge catalytic impact on the regeneration of the Oldham Town Centre.

As a result of the scale of this development and the large population it will serve, a proposal to develop and deliver an appropriate wayfinding strategy to ensure staff and users find the new facility easy to use, welcoming and accessible is paramount.

The innovative and creative use of art is integral to this strategy.

Our Approach: Combining wayfinding, signage and creative arts

Oldham Primary Care Trust and Community 1st Oldham have been developing an innovative strategy to help people find their way in the new Integrated Care Centre which combines wayfinding, signage and art.

The project involves:

Creating an identity for each floor which allows all patient groups to navigate through the building using one or a number of:

“Simplification Systems”

This means using; colours, finishes, signage, AV, photographic environmental images, numbers, pictograms, language & art to create recognisable identities for each floor ensuring that all patient groups can find their way

The aim is to develop individual floor identities which promote “Wellbeing” using images of local, recognisable natural environments, and combining these with signage to help patients identify floors and their destinations easily.

The Oldham College Visual Arts Department Project Brief

The Oldham College Visual Arts Department students were provided with a ‘live’ project brief to create the photographic imagery for the ‘creative’ element of the signage for the new centre.

The overall theme for the photographic imagery is that of local natural environments, bringing the natural environment into an urban setting.

These images should be taken locally in and around the Oldham area and should be of natural landscapes and have a synergy with one of the chosen accent colours to link into the colours of the 6 main clinical floor of the Integrated care Centre;

  • Blue
  • Green
  • Grey
  • Orange
  • Purple
  • Red

To enable a range of natural images the students were able to shoot the images over the different seasons allowing for an autumn, winter and spring/ summer shoot.

The students were provided with a full briefing and technical reference points as to how the images would be used and the scaling and resolution requirements.

Treated as a ‘live’ commercial project a shortlist panel was formed and the short listed images were selected on the basis of the following outline criteria:

  • Meeting the brief
  • Image Quality – Resolution, sharpness of image
  • Synergy with accent colour
  • Distinction of graphic identity
  • Creativity
  • Reasoning of inspiration