Case Study
Harris Academy Falconwood Signage & Display Graphics
Transform your school building and inspire students... A new school building might look modern and smart, but to students who walk the corridors every day it can feel featureless and uninspiring. Large expanses of plain wall say little about a school’s values or do much to create a sense of belonging. That’s where large-scale internal displays really help. They add character to atriums, libraries and canteens, and create an environment that really sings a school’s ethos. Harris Falconwood was facing a challenge familiar to many new schools. Built in 2008, the site was sparse in terms of visual interest, so the brief was to add colour and vibrancy throughout the buildings – to inject life into the classroom and corridor spaces, at the same time as reinforcing the school’s values of ‘Serve, Support, Success’.
Kicking off with a brief The project kicked off with an online briefing session with Falconwood’s Head of Academy, Tom Street, and Media and Building Aesthetics Manager, Andrew Owen, during which they took us through the brief, shared images of the building and explained how they wanted to transform their school.
“At this initial stage we shared our signage inspiration guide, which includes photos of other projects to show the types of signs that we could potentially install. After discussing the options and ideas, we felt that it was beneficial for us to visit the school in person to view the areas and discuss the brief in detail.” Dan Meeks Cleverbox Client Partnership Manager
Providing a visual proposal After the site visit, we agreed that four areas particularly needed an injection of colour and imagination – the entrance lobby, library, computer suite and canteen. These key communal areas of the school were all felt to be lacking in inspiration but with potential for transformation. The next step was to create a fully costed proposal that showed recommendations in terms of design theme, signage materials, along with the areas to be covered so everything was transparent from the outset. Once Falconwood agreed the proposal, our design team got to work creating ideas and options to present back to the school. We wanted to create something visually stunning but which also said something meaningful to students, and added to the learning environment.
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After Internal display graphics
The School Values The school’s powerful values of ‘Serve, Support, Success’ now stand proudly at the entrance, welcoming students, staff and visitors alike. The values also appear again in communal areas, accompanied by memorable geometric design. The same bright, geometric design brings warmth and colour to otherwise bland, functional stairwells – integrating them with the ‘values’ messaging elsewhere in the school.
Before
After
The ICT Suite For the ICT suite we created a giant Brazilian rainforest wall wrap – inspired by the idea that, in this technologically intense age, we need to keep in mind our impact on the wider world. The photography creates a calm, natural feel which balances nicely the more structured and focused technological environment of the lab.
Before “We really wanted to inspire our students and staff with art work, murals and aesthetics that truly reflect our values of “serve, support, success”. We love the work Cleverbox has done in bringing this concept to life.” Mr Street Head of Academy
The Canteen The canteen, with its vast amount of wall space, was a perfect area to create something memorable. Modern, stylised images of inspiring figures, including Maya Angelou, Marie Curie and Albert Einstein, feature prominently alongside thought-provoking quotes that relate back to the school’s values. The designs brought the whole area to life in a way that was visually arresting and also educational – since all the historical figures directly related back to Falconwood’s values. For the canteen we also created informative acrylic discs with ‘fun facts’ about food, nutrition and healthy eating, to reinforce healthy eating habits.
“It was amazing to see all of the design work come together. I found Cleverbox very easy to work with and the creative ideas were amazing. The new graphical displays around our school are stunning and have really brought our buildings to life.” Andrew Owen Media & Building Aesthetics
After
The Library Previously being used as the academy Gym, the area was quickly transformed into the new Library. The creative brief for the library was to show the link between the digital world, literacy and learning.
Before
Our design team created an unmissable new sign running the length of the library’s windows, in which large letters are complemented by a graphic suggesting how literacy helps you take wing and access a whole network of wider opportunities.
After
We would love to do the same for you… Get in touch to discuss your project with an industry expert. Call 0208 466 7222 or email team@cleverbox.co.uk
020 8466 7222 team@cleverbox.co.uk 33 London Road, Bromley BR1 1DG
www.cleverbox.co.uk