Oxford Brookes Univeristy
Europe
View Project
London College of Fashion
- Location
- London, UK
- Client
- UAL / London College of Fashion
- Services
- Wayfinding
- Sector
- Culture + Civic, Education
- Collaborators
- Architect: Allies and Morrison
- Dates
- 2023
Wayfinding for London’s new centre of fashion education and culture
UAL’s London College of Fashion is one of the largest institutions dedicated to fashion study in the world. Located at the heart of London’s East Bank, the 13-storey building, designed by Allies and Morrison, references the industrial mills of the 19th century. Alongside its educational capacity, it also operates as a publicly accessible cultural destination with galleries, workshops, and event spaces open to visitors. Benoy was appointed to develop a wayfinding scheme that could serve both audiences: the regular users who know the building well and first-time visitors navigating it for public events.
Responsive by design
The building’s raw material palette of exposed concrete shaped the wayfinding approach. The scheme applies graphics directly to the concrete walls, keeping the wayfinding pared back and in keeping with the building’s robust, industrial character. A restraint that gives the scheme a quiet confidence.
Responsive by design
The dual academic and public nature of the building required a system capable of adapting to changing requirements. Moments of digital projection complement the applied graphics, allowing information to be updated, switched on, or removed entirely as the programme of the building evolves from standard teaching days to public exhibitions and cultural events. Bespoke pictograms and directional arrows were designed as extensions of the building’s own design language, ensuring the wayfinding reads as an integral part of the environment rather than an overlay.
