North Point Community Church,
Alpharetta, GA
Situation
NPCC is located in Atlanta's northern suburbs and has an average of 15,000 adults and children each Sunday over 3 services. The campus is also the site of many other activities during the week and on weekends including special events, concerts, seminars, etc. Services are held in two main auditoriums and multiple themed areas for children and young adults. Goals of the new signage and wayfinding program included incorporation of new a logo and color palette, improved pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow, identification of entrances and destinations and consistent use of nomenclature in all methods of communication. NPCC chose INNERFACE Architectural Signage, Inc. as the turnkey design, wayfinding and implementation partner for this project.
Solution
With a campus covering 85 acres, the exterior signage and wayfinding represented the biggest challenges including; two multi-lane entrance roads, multiple designated parking areas, the need for flexibility in directing traffic flow in multiple directions simultaneously, identifying building entrances and weekday use of parking area and facilities. In order to assist traffic volunteers in preventing vehicular backflow and congestion, INNERFACE worked with NPCC to create a modular exterior sign design. This modular "flip frame" design enables volunteers to quickly change signage as needed in order to inform families of preschoolers and handicapped attendees to turn on flashers and use specific lanes and also notifies visitors when parking areas are full. During the week, different panels are used that serve a wayfinding function for related weekday activities and destinations.
"Sunday traffic flow is managed with the assistance of volunteers who in the past have utilized temporary signs and personnel in intersections to facilitate a smooth arrival and departure for guests. This comprehensive package will greatly improve our communication with our Sunday attendees, while allowing us to shift to a different directional package on weekdays when the roadways and parking lots are not staffed," noted Burns.
Another challenge for the exterior signage and wayfinding was identification of the building's many entrances and parking areas. In order to improve pedestrian traffic flow, NPCC needed to clearly identify each building entrances by function and funnel visitors/attendees through the correct entrance to specific areas. An innovative use of core-drilled signs in front of the building allows for an easy message shift between shuttle bus stops on Sunday and Bookstore information during the week. NPCC's many parking areas are now clearly identified using a color-based naming system.
The interior of NPCC's main building consists of over 226,000 square feet. The building is divided into several areas that are specific visitor destinations such as the kid's areas (Waumba Land, UpStreet and Kidstuf), teenage programs (iNnerMiSSioN, xtreme, and Kaos) and adult worship in the two main auditoriums (East and West). In order to improve the experience of first time visitors, the signage and wayfinding program needs to reinforce the nomenclature used in other methods of communication (website, bulletin, etc.) for all areas of the building.
The facility's tall ceilings and wide corridors are well suited to the use of soffit mounted directional signage guiding to all major interior destinations. High-mounted wall signage is used in identifying specific destinations and entrances to areas such as the main East and West Auditoriums.
Other interior signage and wayfinding challenges included the need to clearly identify restroom locations that are not readily visible from a distance in the large main corridors and the ability to easily remove the interior sign plaques without damaging the walls. High-mounted perpendicular signage now identifies restroom locations and a stud mounting system was developed to allow for quick removal of interior sign plaques to facilitate the need to frequently paint corridor walls.
Success
Through the use of innovative signage design, NPCC was able to accomplish its goal of creating a more visitor friendly campus by improving pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow, identifying entrances and destinations. "We could not have been more pleased with the working relationship between our staff and the INNERFACE team," lauded Burns. "The communication flow was tremendous, problems were identified early and INNERFACE was flexible in designing solutions. The finished product has drawn raves." |
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