Judge's comments:

Such great technical consideration, We loved the system to the signage that makes this piece of work very clever. The integration of the brand elements were used in such a sophisticated way.

Description:

The Hotel Britomart, a cornerstone of Auckland’s most vibrant downtown neighbourhood is located within a nine-block precinct, bustling with energy and contrasts that make up a dynamic and diverse business community. This idea sits at the core of The Hotel Britomart’s logo suite. It is represented through an array of squares that relate to the nine blocks’ diversity, the hotel’s brick exterior, and the irregular constellation of windows scattered across it.

The hotel's signage system is where the hotel's visual identity and architecture meet. The signage programme employs seven different material types and over 500 individual signs, across nine floors and two buildings. The system had to be both sympathetic to the architect's design and flexible enough on a myriad of spaces and surface types — painted hallways, luxurious timber panelling, and exposed heritage brick.

To create the hotel's main wayfinding signs, the visual identity's signature squares have been reconfigured into a dynamic array of standardised modular elements that can be adapted to any given architectural space and wayfinding task. The system guides guests with both sign icons and the positions of the plates in the grid.

Luxurious brass elements are utilised for entrances, room names, and door signage while subtle inset brass floor signs guide visitors through the shared laneway and restaurants.

A bespoke family of icons is used throughout and acknowledges the design language of the brand.