Generally speaking, parking garages function as dirty, soulless auto repositories with serpentine ingress and egress that can make a harried motorist feel like a stunt driver. The Brookfield Multiplex, a Sydney, Australia-based, international construction and civil-engineering company that specializes in stadia, convention centers and other, large-scale building projects, hired BrandCulture Communications (Rushcutters Bay, NSW, Australia) to create engaging graphics for the World Square Carpark. The facility entails a collection of parking facilities under various Sydney developments that comprise Australia’s largest, mixed-use development.
According to BrandCulture’s Stephen Minning, the firm conducted research that confirms parking garages’ frequently poor exit and facility markings increase the likelihood of accidents. Moreover, he said the facility’s size– 550 parking spaces over five levels – required coherent environmental graphics and wayfinding.
“We combined oversized level numbers and icons with blocks of bright colors that help orient drivers and pedestrians the moment they arrive at World Square. The program implements two sightlines – one for motorists and the second, at a higher level, that’s easily visible to standing pedestrians.
Wizardry Signs (Mooresbank, NSW, Australia) handled the facility’s sign production. The primary graphics were directly painted onto concrete walls, with supplemental, directional lines that mark the floor. Secondarily, ceiling-mounted, internally illuminated lightboxes keep visitors moving in the right direction.