ABG DESIGN
Project Name: Houses of Parliament – Visitor Signage
Client: Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster
Sector: Visitor attractions
Location: London, England
The role: ABG Design won a competitive tender in conjunction with Donald Insall Associates (conservation architects) to design all visitor facing signage across the Parliamentary estate. This included main visitor-facing areas for all tours, and areas that were used for private functions such as all banqueting suites.
The brief: The Houses of Parliament are a complex set of buildings that have grown over the course of many years, ABG Design’s role was to ensure that the visitor journey was more seamless, and that they had the best experience in a set of buildings that has high security.
Outcome: Working in conjunction with Donald Insall Associates, we undertook a full survey of the entire estate, assessing what new signage was needed where, and logging heritage signage that was labelled and stored for future generations. As the building is Grade 1 listed it was key that the signage neither damaged the fabric of the building nor overpowered the visitor experience. A tight balance was therefore needed to ensure the signage did its job without getting in the way of the splendour of the buildings.
Howard Miles, ABG Design Managing Director said: “We did some initial visitor testing and the feedback was very positive, so we then ran the scheme across the whole estate. We wanted the design of the signs to be visible but sit in harmony with this site. The buildings that makes the Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster are very complex so having very clear wayfinding approach was crucial.”
Case Study Submitted by ABG Design, for more details contact info@abgdesign.uk.com.
