Environmental Graphics
a leading global design practice
Expertise Commercial Education Industrial Health Hospitality Residential Retail Transport Workplace
Company Profile
Woodhead is a leading architecture, interiors, and planning company with more than 80 years in the industry. Woodhead is based throughout Australia, Asia and Europe with associations and partnerships worldwide Our experience, expertise, technology and business management systems ensure we achieve world’s best practice for our clients. We are committed to design excellence and environmentally sustainable design solutions, delivered with outstanding service. Our design approach creates multi-sensory, engaging and memorable places that are functional at their core. We are focused on investment in social infrastructure, property, and business for greater social and financial rewards. Our people are experts in their various fields, with diverse qualifications outside their main discipline. We link specialists within our studios to develop specific projects, gaining broader perspectives and innovative design outcomes for our clients.
Regions
Asia
China India South East Asia Australia New South Wales + Australian Capital Territory South Australia + Northern Territory Queensland Victoria + Tasmania Western Australia Europe + Middle East + Africa
Woodhead’s Graphic Design and Visual Communication team was formalised as a design discipline within the Architectural practice of Woodhead in 1993.
Capability Statement
environment
Since that time, the team have been involved in a broad range of brand and public facing Graphic Design projects, either working as part of a complete service design team with the Architectural and Interior Design disciplines, or as a stand alone consultancy addressing purely Graphic and Environmental Design. As our project experience demonstrates, Woodhead understands how to visually express the values, messages and brand ideals of an organisation effectively, and has insight into how people perceive the built environment. Having worked in both the private sector and with government agencies, Woodhead is sensitive to how visual information is interpreted and understood, especially to a broad audience with differing expectations and abilities. This unique team also has considerable experience in managing a range of sub-consultants, in areas such as engineering, electrical engineering and construction, to ensure that the designed outcomes utilise the best available and appropriate technologies.
Woodhead’s graphics team is well versed in dealing with statutory and regulatory authorities, as well as the interpretation and application of building standards and best practice codes. Our project teams are typically made up of Visual Communication, Interior Design and Architectural personnel, who bring world’s best practice in design and documentation with regulatory specification. Combining Graphic Design with Architecture and Interior Design in this way gives Woodhead a singular insight into the issues that arise when delivering Visual Communication and Wayfinding elements into the built form. Ultimately this experience and cross disciplined approach has meant that Woodhead can offer unique and tailored solutions, bringing successful outcomes to a broad range of project scales.
tal graphics
Effective environmental graphic design connects people to their space by personalising their experience of it.
environmental graphics
Effective environmental graphic design connects people to their space by personalising their experience of it. The space then becomes unique, with an identity that is inspirational rather than merely functional. Woodhead’s Graphic Design team understands the potency of the visual image, and recognises the potential for visual communication to stimulate, excite and inspire as well as to inform and assure. At all levels, when applied to built environments, the visual image can be effectively used to enforce brand ideals as well as to provide an individual identity to people’s space and engender a sense of ownership and function within an environment. Additionally images and designs applied to the users environment can instil feelings of calm and well being in highly charged environments such as hospitals or airports. An effective Graphic Design solution can also communicate a sense of purpose for the space, encouraging group dynamics as well as defining the functionality and providing a sense of identity. Woodhead’s Graphic Design team has extensive experience in working alongside Interior Design and Architectural disciplines resulting in holistic design outcomes that consider every aspect of the built form and people’s experience of it. The environmental graphics that accompany many fit-outs are integral to defining the final, successful outcome with visual communication themes being used to enhance the space.
Flinders Medical Centre, Paediatric Ward, Bedford Park, SA
The Flinders Medical Centre Paediatric Inpatient Ward was redeveloped to be The Variety Children’s Centre at Flinders Medical Centre. Woodhead architects, interior and graphic designers worked collaboratively to develop an exciting concept for the ward interior ‘@ the beach’ - as a complementary interior design to that of the adjacent Paediatric Outpatient Clinics which were developed approximately five years ago with an outback theme. The graphics applied to patient room doors presented Woodhead with a number of interesting challenges: −− to allow vision through to toddlers (who might be playing on the floor close to the door), higher level view through to approaching staff, yet still affording a reasonable degree of privacy to older children −− to ensure the imagery proposed would not ‘date’ over the years, as the installation would have an extended lifetime. −− to ensure the imagery proposed was not age specific and would cater for children aged 0-18years.
−− to ensure the production process would withstand regular cleaning, and there were no areas for children to ‘pick’ at the graphics. The solution was to develop a design that incorporated underwater photography for each patient door, and incorporating illustration cut-outs to provide a clear view where most required. The prints were produced with a durable ink, and the clear areas were ink-free so there were no accessible edges. The under-sea images were also selected to assist children younger than reading age to recognise their room in the ward - for example a four year old can identify with the ‘blue fish room’, rather than room 5. Similar themes were also included on sections of glazing to the Staff Station, Ward Entry Doors and Playroom.
Flinders Medical Centre, Paediatric Ward, Bedford Park, SA
Land Management Corporation, Adelaide, SA
The solution was developed to brand the public areas, (reception and boardroom) while showing considered restraint to graphics elements within the open plan work space. This was to allow integration with the eyecatching interior design and graphic joinery that mimics topography. The reception made use of the LMC brand device (mosaic pattern) and corporate blue, with digital printing onto transparent vinyls that allowed visibility through to the work spaces and coridoor for better connectivity between spaces.
Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
Alongside the extensive signage program developed for the Hospital, Woodhead were also responsible for developing the Environmental Graphics for the project that served not only to express the brand of the RWH, but also to convey the ‘person-centred’ approach to care that the Hospital prides itself on. Images were chosen that portrayed a broad demographic of age and culture which aimed to communicate the inclusive health care provision that is sensitive to the individual needs of patients and their supporters.
Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Darwin, NT This innovative design solution was developed in close collaboration with ABS stakeholders.
This innovative design solution was developed in close collaboration with ABS stakeholders as part of an overall Interior Design and Graphic Design brief which was designed to present a lively and inspirational work space to staff and visitors. Using unique themes drawn from Darwin and the Northern Territory, the graphics told a vertical visual story from the blue coastal regions at the top, depicting natural and architectural imagery, through to the mid green semi tropical environment, down to the red/ brown desert. Each layer was stratified and stylised iconic images interspersed into the Graphics. The Graphic was repeated along with some more generalised glass line designs developed as part of the overall theme that served to provide a level of privacy within those rooms without being completely opaque. The Interior Design colour palette was deliberately muted to allow it to work as a ‘canvas’ for the Graphics with the result being regarded as very successful collaborative outcome.
Singapore National Library, Singapore The design philosophy is centred around the idea of connections.
Knowledge has become the cornerstone of success in today’s competitive environment. Our brief for the new Singapore National Library was to advance the development and well-being of Singapore and its people in the knowledge economy through convenient access to information. The design philosophy is centred around the idea of connections. Connection of the user to the library and knowledge. Connection of the library to the community as a whole. Connection of the various elements of the building to each other and ultimately, connection of the National Library and Singapore to the world. Encompassing all these ideas is ‘nexus’, which describes our design philosophy for the project. This is encapsulated in the seven storey book wall that runs through the core of the building. The book wall acts as a division between front of house and back of house.
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Australian Tax Office Headquarters, Canberra, ACT
The Australian Tax Office is a dynamic and ever changing organisation responding to Tax reform, Government policy and direction. The nature of work and work patterns within the ATO are likewise always changing. Teams are quickly formed and reformed to meet the demands of particular projects and initiatives. People within the ATO are accustomed to a culture of change and movement. Woodhead proposed a design concept that uses the built environment to encourage communication and interaction within the ATO by fostering productivity through creative planning techniques and intelligent design solutions. This concept, later described as “seasonal change” within the workplace environment, was one that struck a chord with the ATO from the early stages of the project. It was understood that people moved and worked in different parts of these large buildings on a regular basis.
Woodhead’s approach was to undertake a study on how an individual feels in this very large organisation and promote variety and value of the individual as opposed to an homogenous environment. Some design elements, however, needed to be standardised and adaptable to change. The environmental graphic concept was based on leaves and the climatic seasonal changes of Canberra, from rich Autumn tones, to the fresh colours of Spring. Graphics and colour pallettes were established around the themes of Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. These variations filtered up through the buildings and across the floors with scattered complimentary hues of colour. Materials were selected to reflected these changes, and signage and wayfinding overlaid the environment to enable quick identification of spaces and areas. The result has proven to be highly successful and consequently rolled into other projects the ATO are undertaking around the country.
Australian Tax Office Headquarters, Canberra, ACT
a Headquarters, ACT
ATO Canberra Headquarters, A
Autumn
Glass Film Partition & Power Blade Signage
Winter
Glass Film Partition & Power Blade Signage
is a dynamic and ever
Woodhead proposed a design concept that uses the built environment to encourage communication and interaction within the ATO by fostering productivity through creative planning techniques and intelligent design solutions.
environment. Some design elements, however,
Australian Tax Office Headquarters Galleria Canberra, ACT
The Galleria display draws on the ATO’s Indigenous building names and themes to tell multi-layered stories using legends, metaphor, symbols, art and artefacts from the Ngambri people: Ngabra and Kembery — meeting place; Amungula — rivers and mountains. The central concept of the Galleria is built on a sense of harmony. Harmony within the ATO. Harmony between the ATO and the various Australian communities. Harmony between the building and its location, and the Indigenous community. The focus is on what the ATO is, what it does, how it is built on the past and a sense of place… and how it has a bright future. The idea of a river is a unifying metaphor that links the three spaces of the Galleria—a river of water, of light, of stars, to carry the organisation’s memories, values, earning and aspirations along the Galleria. The river works as a metaphor for interconnection, the notion of bringing people together to pass on knowledge between communities and from one ATO generation to the next.
This metaphor complements the length of the Galleria (it is 90 metres long and turns a corner for the ‘future’ set of panels). The symbol of a bogong moth records the passage of this river by its flight path or ‘songline’ across the panels. The symbol of the eagle in the ‘future’ panels is suggestive of take-off and soaring, possibility, strength of purpose, and highlights the ATO’s future aspirations. Also featured in the display are images of axe-grinding grooves, rock art and scarred trees. The design combines ATO brand guidelines (font restrictions) with a sympathetic rendering of Indigenous material—etched stainless steel panels, glass overlays with floating images of the Bogong moth, illuminated and non-illuminated digital prints.
Dept of Education and Children’s Services, Adelaide, SA
As part of a refit of the Department’s City offices, Woodhead was commissioned to work with the facilities planning team to develop a series of themed rooms and spaces that complemented the philosophy of the interior design. This project was an opportunity to explore ‘office of the future’ workplace design concepts. With the facilities planning team working closely with the executive to develop the desired corporate culture and future business directions along with a strategy to involve the whole organisation in the creation of their new workplace The function of each room was considered and a unique but uniformed approach was taken to define its function as well as create an expression of openness and encourage a collaborative environment.
Foxtel Customer Service Centre, Moonee Ponds, VIC
Working in close collaboration with our Interior Designers brought about this unique fit-out and environmental graphic design solution. Adapting the strong Foxtel brand for use as environmental graphics was key to this solution, with both the Foxtel lightbeams and a multitude of images used throughout. The graphics were designed to give each office and the workstations within the call centre a unique identity, allowing the occupants to have a sense of ownership and individuality.
City of Perth Car Parks, Perth, WA
The City of Perth wanted to make the journey in their public carparks, from the parking bays to the street, a more enjoyable experience. The result was a series of graphic panels based on original photographs of the carpark and its surrounding physical context. Commuters are able to recognise scenes from their journey represented in the panels as they travel to the street. The graphic elements painted directly onto the wall are extensions and interpertations stretching from parts of the photographic images and help to redirect the eye from the long and linear nature of these corridors. The journey from the car park is now one filled with colour and fun.
Adelaide Central Bus Station, Adelaide, SA
Super-graphic were designed to clearly illustrate the building’s function within, however the facade posed to be quite a challenge. The perforated metal panels functioned as a screening mechanism to the carpark and also allowed the necessary ventilation flow, for this reason large scale full graphic coverage was not deemed a viable option. Graphic application to the front was seen as the most suitable option as rear access was severely limited. A site study revealed the best location for each of the super-graphics, a clean line of sight was from Chinatown, through to the pedestrian lights crossing directly opposite the bus station was the perfect location for maximum impact. Over 14,000 orange coloured acrylic tiles measuring 110 x 24mm were fixed by hand to the building facade, approximately 7,000 to each side, providing an exciting and integrated super-graphic solution.
Maritime Skills Centre, Outer Harbor, SA
A large environmental display was designed to highlight and inform the viewers of the many green star initiatives achieved within the building. The display with a constantly updating LED feed is located in the main foyer capturing the attention of all passing this busy hub.
Central Land Council, Alice Springs, NT
The Central Land Council is a statutory body representing the Aboriginal people of the Central Australian region. With Woodhead responsible for the design and development of a new administration centre in Alice Springs, Woodhead has been commissioned to work with our Architects and Interior Designers to develop a range of interior, environmental graphics representing indigenous cultures and stories throughout the facility.
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