Floors, Stairs, Lifts and Wayfinding

Wayfinding, one of the more charming neologisms to enter architectural discourse in recent years, is a topic which sits comfortably with floors, stairs and lifts and, as it's a newcomer, we'll discuss it first. Although many architects regard signage as an admission that a building has failed to communicate by architectural means, just as they might argue that a good plan needs little annotation, users sometimes need hints which operate at a more detailed level while many architects now collaborate with communication designers, such as Thomas Matthews.

This consultancy's expertise is to communicate architecture by using scale, space and surface. 'We often deliver ambitious communications projects that go beyond the principles of graphic design and could, for example, involve hanging 5,000 polystyrene cups to create a statement,' says founder Sophie Thomas. 'We prefer to work at the very beginnings of a project where disciplines are able to coalesce and architectural communications are easier to integrate,' says Alexie Sommer, communications director. 'The stuck-on-at-the end approach to identity and wayfinding is always disappointing.'

'New cities so often struggle to deliver similar qualities in a single planned event.' For Lloyd, the workplace is a similar organism, which is often configured in a manner that forces occupants to establish their own physical and social communities largely unsupported by architecture, layout and furniture. 'Over the last decade a movement has emerged that espouses the concept of the legible city, seeking to unlock our post-industrial urban spaces as open, easy and connectedcommunities through high-quality mapping and information resources that enhance the subconscious wayfinding already present in neighbourhoods, districts and the unplanned pathways between them.'