Garden signage in bloom
by carly_mchugh | 14 June 2023 5:54 pm
By Carly McHugh
The Leaf at Canada’s Diversity Gardens is a lush horticultural destination, nestled within Assiniboine Park outside downtown Winnipeg. While visiting the grounds, patrons can explore nearly 12.1 ha (30 acres) of outdoor gardens, as well as voyage through four different indoor biomes: the Tropical Biome, the Mediterranean Biome, the Display House, and the Butterfly Garden. They will also encounter a diverse collection of signage, provided by Signex Manufacturing of Steinbach, Man.
The shop was first contacted by Assiniboine Park Conservancy’s (APC’s) landscape architect, who was working with Bird Construction on building The Leaf’s new outdoor and indoor gardens. The team needed someone to assist with signage design and, having worked with Signex in the past, they felt the shop would be a great fit for the project. Once Signex found out when the tender was going to be issued, they placed their bid for the job, and were eventually selected from the group of competing sign companies from across the province and the country.
Now that the shop had landed the project, their goal was to provide wayfinding and interpretive signage for the interior of the building and each biome, as well as for the outdoor gardens and park. Directional and wayfinding signage for stairs, exits, and washrooms would be included, along with interpretive and donor signs in the biomes and main areas. Different levels of donor signs were provided all over the site, which were constructed using glass, precision-tooled aluminum, and stainless steel. The exterior portion of the project consisted mostly of interpretive signage and various levels of donor signage, giving visitors insight about the garden areas, as well as important donor names and levels. Signex also provided a flex-face mural on a 38.1-m (125-ft) long curved interior wall. Overall, the project encompassed more than 150 signs in both the interior of the building and the exterior grounds.
As part of the design assist package, the landscape architect brought forward the concepts for the project and Signex provided the materials and processes. The interpretive content came ready to print from an outside company hired by APC. Much of the manufacturing components were a design-build collaboration between Signex and the project’s engineers, landscape architects, and designers.
Throughout the fabrication process, Signex was responsible for bringing each concept to fruition. They would often consult with the engineers for structure stability, which was also a requirement for the project. Aluminum, steel, stainless steel, and glass were among the materials the team used for the various donor and interpretive signs. The washroom and stair signs utilized 3D printing on aluminum panels, to create braille and tactile components. Sublimated graphics were sourced for the exterior interpretive signs due to their longevity and vandal resistance. The sizes of each sign ranged from 152.4-m (6-in.) vinyl decals to the 38.1-m flex-face mural. However, the majority of the pieces were small donor signs at 304.8 x 457.2 mm (12 x 18 in.) and medium/interpretive signs at 0.9 x 2.1 m (3- x 7-ft).
The team found installation in the finished park to be a challenge, especially when it came to drilling and pouring the concrete bases for the interpretive signs on the park grounds. Bringing in a concrete truck and hydrovac rig was prohibited in the finished areas, so they needed to make precast piers or organized helical piles to place where they needed additional underground supports. They also had to be careful when driving their skid-steer loader on pathways and pavers, to avoid damaging or crushing them. As a result, the team had to pay close attention to weight restrictions. Ensuring the pathways were covered with plywood became part of the process, so the skid-steer loader would not damage the finished areas.
The wide variety of signs included in the project required many different installation techniques. In construction zones, the team was able to bring their hydrovac and concrete trucks on-site. However, utilities and underground power near installation locations prevented the ease of pouring concrete in place, which is why they utilized helical piles for certain pieces of signage.
Most of the other equipment they had on-site were ladders and lifts, as the signs were mostly ground level. Handling the large, 12.7-mm (0.5-in) thick tempered glass panels for the donor signs also proved difficult. However, a Signex employee with glazing experience helped lead the team and ensure their successful installation. Some of the other main challenges on-site were the weather and working around other subcontractors, in the final push before grand opening. The Signex team was typically the last to be on-site, and this was a particularly large project, where a lot of planting was taking place in and around where they needed to install. As a result, they found communication to be a vital part of the last push. Anything that had to be installed on the exterior also faced harsh weather conditions, as the team battled cold and snow pileup where signs needed to be installed. However, they found working with a good contractor helped ease those install challenges.
Another challenge for the team was covering the curved concrete wall with a mural at ground level. Many different options for this component were provided, but the clients also wanted a system they could eventually control in-house, as the mural would be changed four to five times throughout the year to suit the season. Signex searched for a flex-face system that would cover the entire 38.1-m wall, but they could not find anything clean enough for ground-level viewing. Ultimately, their installers and production crew decided to create a custom-made system to incorporate the necessary components.
Phase 1 of the project began in 2021, with the completion of the outdoor gardens and the installation of the exterior donor and wayfinding signage. The next phase—including the interior donor and wayfinding signage—was completed in time for the opening of The Leaf in November 2022. The third phase of the project is still in progress, with the exterior wayfinding signage expected to be installed during the warmer weather this summer.
Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/garden-signage-in-bloom/