Innovative Signage’s recent project at Maillardville Community Centre encompassed around 100 pieces, including an illuminated under-canopy sign. Photos courtesy Innovative Signage
By Carly McHugh
One of the most important factors for building a safe and welcoming community space is an eye towards inclusivity and accessibility. In fact, this was the driving force behind Innovative Signage’s recent project at the Maillardville Community Centre in Coquitlam, B.C.
The city approached the shop in late 2021 to develop interior wayfinding and exterior signage for the newly built centre, complete with fitness and activity rooms, event space, multi-purpose rooms, and a childminding area. They were looking to develop a more modern and inclusive visual language for their signage, which would blend harmoniously with the architecture of the building.
The scope of this project encompassed around 100 signs, including room names, stair numbers, hanging wayfinding signage, directories, safety signage, a parkade entry fascia sign, an illuminated fascia sign, an under-canopy entry sign, and a projecting parkade entry sign. The shop also designed pictograms for the signage, using the city’s branded font and colours. At first, this part of the project proved difficult, as various rooms within the centre were intended for multiple uses, from community get-togethers to fitness classes. However, the team worked closely with the city during the development process, as well as sought feedback from staff and end users, to ensure they communicated these details accurately.
Once the designs were finalized, each piece was fabricated in-house at Innovative Signage. For the interior tactile signs, the braille and 3D graphics were printed directly to their painted acrylic substrates using an LED ultraviolet (UV) printer. The exterior illuminated signs consisted of hollow fabricated stainless-steel letters. The fascia sign incorporated a 25.4-mm (1-in.) deep frosted acrylic edge, while the suspended sign featured illuminated frosted acrylic faces.
At the centre, the team erected scaffolding to install the under-canopy sign, the parking entry sign, and the hanging wayfinding signage. They affixed the under-canopy sign using a drill, anchoring it to the steel canopy and running its power supply through the building above the canopy and down inside its vertical arms. The connections were then made watertight with gaskets and seals.
