White Stripes
(8.21.2011) –– The striped façade of 221 London, a recently refurbished office building in Canberra, Australia, is a distinct new feature in the city's Central Business District. For developer Molonglo, Frost Design referenced the building design in a bold environmental graphics program that employs a custom font and a supersized building address that seems to weave in and out of the stripes like a ribbon.
The eye-catching façade creates an important visual statement, revitalizes the surrounding area, and helps attract new tenants.
Inside, the Frost team's strong visual language continues with black and white graphics that fold and overlap, using positive and negative space to create a unique and dramatic identity at entry points and in public spaces. Floor identities take the form of oversized ribbon-like numbers, while black-and-white striped symbols reinforce the graphic tone.
Signage includes foyer directory and café identity as well as identification, directional, statutory, and operational signage. A key concern was ensuring consistency throughout the multi-tenanted building that met high design and Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) standards.
The design elements are an opportunity to establish a sense of place in keeping with the vision for the development. The signage and graphics enhance an existing building, integrating the original with the new, adding visual interest, and serving as a practical wayfinding function.
Architecture: Architectus
Photos: Frost Design