Grand Plaza Commercial Signage System

Project:

GRAND PLAZA

Client:

Zhenghong Property

Industry:

Retail & Malls

Location:

Zhengzhou, China

Completion Year:

2022

Project Overview

Scope:

Outdoor building illuminated sign, exterior curtain advertising light box, indoor&outdoor signage system, basement(parking) garage coating signage system

Role:

System Engineering & Detailed Design · Manufacturing · Installation

Material:

Stainless steel baking finish, tempered glass, 3M light-blocking film

Project Scale:

Zhengzhou GRAND PLAZA is the flagship of regional shopping center developed by ZHENGHONG PROPERTY at the ZHENGZHOU high-tech zone. It is also the largest and the most premium commercial landmark within the high-tech zone.

>> Application Environment

This project is located at the core commercial sphere of the ZHENGZHOU high-tech zone, with its indoor and outdoor areas covering functional areas like: commercial center’s public space, storefront, parking lot, walkway and elevator lobby. Signage system needs to blend with the modernity of building unity and fashionable design style while satisfying the basic wayfinding functions. It also needs to adapt to different lighting conditions (like day time natural light, night time artificial lighting) and the message delivery requirement under population density. 

>> CHALLENGE

High spacial complexity, traditional signage tends to fail: the GRAND PLAZA has a total floor area of 150000 square meters, with 8 major themed space and 2 major themed street as well as complex sunken plaza and aerial garden. Traditional "static signage with text" mode could easily cause customer disorientation within such complicated circulation path, making them hard to locate the positions of 300+ debut brands.

"Extreme Delivery" under pandemic and tight schedule pressure: projects have encountered pandemic lockdown, floods and repeated delays, leading to a rush construction status before opening. Signage system, as the essential pre-opening "infrastructure", must accomplish systematic data integration within short amount of time of systems like hardware installation, software debugging and parking lot. It has extremely low margin of error.

"Hub for young gathering"'s high experiential demand

Projects are positioned as young-oriented and light luxury, matching the "sails of technology"'s building design style. Signage system doesn't only satisfy wayfinding demands, but also needs to visually match the international sense of design. It also hosts digital interactive functions such as membership services and event publishing.

>> SOLUTION

Combined with customized fabrication, unifying fundamental design language; smart wayfinding screens no longer only display "you are here", but are capable of calculating optimized routes dynamically (consider escalator and elevator congestion) based on real-time input of store names.

All signage locations and pipeline collision together resolve problems inside the factory. Signage hardwares adopt standardized module designs, and only on-site mounting is required rather than customization. This "Lego" style installation turns complex on-site construction into simplified assembly, ensuring "0 margin of error" delivery within a extreme construction schedule.

Signage design matches "sails of technology"'s streamlined architectural language, weakening hardware existence and strengthening visual strike of digital content, therefore elevating wayfinding to "super entrance".

>> IMPACT

Regional commercial experience upgrade: smart wayfinding system has significantly lowered the learning cost of new shopping malls. High foot traffic accomodation is achieved upon opening, minimizing customer lost due to their inability to find stores. It successfully sets a benmark for digital services of the regional commercials.

Defining new standards for "smart shopping malls": This project justifies the transition of wayfinding system from "signage" to "service terminal". It isn't just a road sign, but also represents membership entrance, advertising window and data collection point, facilitates the upgraded procurement standard of smart wayfinding system within ZHENGZHOU's local commercial unit.

Project management samples of complex engineering: Under the background of repeated pandemic and supply chain constraints, this project's successful delivery becomes the classical example of "resilient delivery" of the commercial signage industry. It showcased how to maintain progress and quality under uncertain environment using digitalized tools (BIM/ digital twin).

From Design to Delivery