where instead of having a wayfinding

that clash with everything

or it's not in sync,

we could do better.

We don't want to compete with the architects.

We don't want to compete with the interior designer.

We want to understand where they're coming from

because they're very often there before.

They planned the whole thing.

They have their own style.

They have years, sometimes,

of thought behind it.

So, for us it's key that the people that have

worked before us - the architects very often,

sometimes the interior designers -

can explain where they're coming from.

Being also a branding agency,

we look at the messages.

So, the architect does the hardware

and the end-user is the software -

they are the people that are going to

use these buildings and these spaces.

And they have their own view on that.

And so we need to marry these two.

So we need to understand what the space is for.

Is it a commercial space?

Is it a serious space?

Whatever it is.

What this group of people

that are going to use this building

have in mind?

So that we can really bridge

between the architectural vision

and the brand messages

or whatever the communication

- how the character is - of that (building).

There's the body,

there's the soul,

and we see ourselves as the voice.

We took the time to work with the team

and understand these buildings,

the architectural statement but also how it works.

Then, we look at the users.

And that is when it becomes a bit more tricky here

because you have

the patients.

And they go from infants,

very young, up to teenager, 18 years old.

So, needs and

way of perceiving the exchange between

the communication.

Their communication is very different.

and then you have visitors that come to

visit their child and their relatives.

Then, there is the medical body

the people that help the patients,

the doctors, the nurses and all the other people that help

within the hospital that are there.

So, it's a demographic that is quite complex

We looked at that also very carefully.

It's a hospital.

You have to deal with emotions.

You have to deal with all these

various conditions that are intangible.

and we needed it to understand the combination,

all those three things

and be one contributing team member

on how that can be answered within the hospital space.

We wanted to create a family.

We wanted characters to go and

live in this habitat

and start to be the communication point

with the patients, visiting parents

and relatives and so on.

That was very well received.

So it's a family that inhabit a space.

Each member of this family is on a different floor.

Each animal has also its own environment

and that environment also

kind of reflects what's happening on that floor.

For instance, the flamingo has always his foot in the water

The centre there has a pool

to help for exercise.

So there was the water feature.

But we also know how to bring people from one place to the other.

In that case, the kangaroo

not only helps defusing tension, explaining things,

it's also the one that's going to

lead you to your destination.

The family and the animal jumping out.

It gets out of the family and starts to lead

the way around.

When we talk about wayfinding we have to

start somewhere and what we try to do is to

be engaged at an early stage at least in a conversation

where we can prove and show that we can

bring more (to the project) in a very integrated way.