The result of the strategy phase was the establishment of three simple principles for the project.
Everyone’s a pedestrian
The first principle was grounded in the city centre plan, which acknowledged that whether people were walking from home or a hotel, getting off a bus or light-rail transit (LRT) train, riding a bicycle or driving to the downtown area, they will always be on-foot at some point.
Speaking Calgarian
The second principle recognizes the importance of a wayfinding program using terminology that reflects the language and logic of the locals. The strategy phase involved exploring terms commonly used to describe the city centre’s districts, destinations and events, as well as the existing ‘visual language’ of the streetscape and transit system elements.
Connecting centres of activity
The third and final principle was to integrate the sign system with the logic of Calgary’s street grid. Since many destinations are spread out relatively far, it was important for the signs’ various wayfinding elements to support pedestrian traffic flows by helping visitors to orient themselves and then to decide whether to walk, take public transit or drive.
The city decided to implement signs for pedestrians and transit passengers first, putting those for drivers on hold until more funding became available.
Design
Similar to the strategy phase, the design process incorporated input from various parties at key stages, from conceptual to detailed designs, production of shop drawings, engineering, fabrication and installation. Community groups were more involved upfront, while city staff and sign fabricators became more involved as the process moved toward implementation.
Conceptual design began as an outgrowth of the feedback received during strategy sessions. That input provided insight into the constraints and opportunities available as the wayfinding information was designed to fit the environment.
Detailed design concepts were developed to demonstrate the project’s principles in visual form, with consideration given to scale, colour, typography, use of materials and visual context within the streetscape. These helped make the project more ‘real’ for all involved.
This was the first time the various groups had ever been called to agree upon a single visual standard for wayfinding to represent all of them. Previously, each district, destination and event used its own means to provide direction. The design phase was an opportunity to receive their unvarnished opinions and learn from their experiences.
Initial design concepts led to one selected program. With the help of multiple city departments, the program was refined until it was judged an appropriate expression of the city centre.
In the end, the design process helped meet four key objectives for the wayfinding signage:
- Help locals and visitors find their way easily around the city centre.
- Raise awareness of attractions and points of interest throughout the downtown area.
- Enhance locals’ confidence to venture out more and explore their city.
- Help provide memorable experiences for visitors.
Implementation
With the assistance of city departments, the program’s design process had anticipated all of the potential hurdles that could be encountered during implementation.
The local government was required to follow a strict procurement process when awarding the fabrication contract. There were two options: a standard tender, which would mean contracting the work based only on the lowest-cost bid; or a request for proposals (RFP), which could entail the evaluation of multiple criteria.
Given that the project’s two top priorities were quality and time, the city opted for the more rigorous RFP process. That is to say, it was particularly imperative to select a fabricator who could meet the quality standards and timelines, some of which were very tight with the then-impending 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede.
An RFP sought outside bidders who could produce large-scale signs beyond the capabilities of Calgary’s own municipal sign shop, which would instead focus on smaller elements, including changeable message updates.
To enable the evaluation of quality as part of the RFP, all bidders were required to submit a fabrication sample based on the design intent drawings, which were provided by the project’s design consultants. This was the fabricators’ opportunity to showcase their experience and capabilities, by demonstrating how well they could translate the design and intent into a physical form.
In fact, the fabricators themselves encouraged this approach, as it provided an ‘apples to apples’ comparison and set standards by which their work could be judged.
The municipal government’s own sign shop would also work on the project. While one of the outside bidders won the contract to produce larger-scale signs the municipal shop could not fabricate in-house, beyond these, much of the program would involve smaller elements, including changeable messaging updates, which the city sign shop could indeed manage.
A meeting was held between the designers, the fabricator and the city departments to clarify the project’s goals, set deadlines for approvals and ensure compliance with detailed schedules.
