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DAMANSARA CITY
Kuala Lumpur Client:
GuocoLand **** DEFERRED ****
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BRIEF
Damansara City is an 8.5 acre mixed-use Transit Oriented Development (TOD) comprising two Grade A office towers – Hong Leong Tower and Guoco Tower, two residential towers – DC Residensi, an international hotel – 312-room Sofitel Kuala Lumpur, and a 5-storey lifestyle mall – DC Mall. Visitors & guests were experiencing major issues on wayfinding, particularly for vehicular traffic circulation within its perimeter, more so within its multi-level parking facilities. FW initial scope was only to propose signage design, but this was expanded to include a wayfinding audit review & subsequently, proposal to revamp the existing wayfinding system onsite. |
CHALLENGE(s)
Client was adamant initially that a wayfinding study was unnecessary & that FW was to only provide design services based solely on plotting previously made by a traffic consultant. Nota bene: traffic consultants are not wayfinding experts & wayfinding consultants are not traffic experts ;). Existing signage, especially those within the external perimeter, were to be retrofitted as much as possible. SOLUTION Although initially not engaged to conduct any wayfinding study / analysis, we proceeded, on our own initiative, to conduct an audit of the existing wayfinding system & proved to the client that if we were to just focus solely on signage design, based on work done by non-specialists, the problems will still persist & they would be literally throwing money down the drain. |
SOLUTION (cont.)
Taking a holistic approach by engaging all relevant stakeholders, particularly the operations & facilities management team, all relevant issues, including many that were not initially identified by the client were brought up & addressed. With the wayfinding issues having been addressed, we turned the corner into coming-up with functional design solutions. To save on cost, we value-engineered designs that would utilize existing signage structures, & materials & sizes that would not only be effective but able to accommodate the given budget. However, a change in management direction led to a deferment of the project. KEY LESSON: Get it right the 1st time around by engaging the right professionals to save tons of money + avoid massive headaches. |