December 2014 BOMA

EDMONTON

WAYFINDING DESIGN HAS COME TO BOMA EDMONTON!

INDUSTRIAL

VAC A N C Y Q4 - 2014

Overall Vacancy: City Vacancy: Surrounding Vacancy:

3.3% 3.3% 3.3%

CITY OF EDMONTON .

Southeast Northwest Northeast Central

3.6% 2.4% 7.6% 2.4%

SURROUNDING-DISTRICTS: Acheson Spruce Grove 1.3% Stony Plain Sherwood Park 4.3% Nisku/Leduc 3.8% Feature Listings COMMERCE WEST BUSINESS PARK 153 Street & 111 Avenue, Edmonton, AB Bays from 3,200 sf

W

hat is wayfinding? Wayfinding is the act of navigating through an environment. Whether you realize it or not, you encounter and use wayfinding numerous times every day. It is the act of wayfinding that gets you from point A to point B. Enter Pinpoint Creative, an Alberta-based signage and wayfinding consulting design firm with a reputation for effective and original wayfinding solutions.

Founded in 2000 and launched as Applied Solutions, Andy Lucardie and team have recently to re-branded their firm to PinPoint Creative.

With a creative ensemble of 26 dedicated staff members, they tailor their niche design services to a vast clientele including property owners and managers, architects, developers, professional firms, financial organizations, governmental agencies, new

construction, retail centres, corporate developments, hotels and resorts, hospitals, recreational facilities, universities, civic buildings, performing arts facilities, temporary and permanent exhibitions and more.

Andy and his team take great pride in being a niche design company where success is achieved through dynamic design, experience and customer service. “We know that a successful project is rooted in a deep understanding of its objectives,� states Lucardie. Through a detailed assessment and consultation process, solutions are reached with customized signage and wayfinding programs according to the specific needs of their clients. From navigational pattern study to informational content to final placement, their approach is unique and rigorous.

In 2007, when the YMCA of

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www.bomaedmonton.org | BOMA Edmonton Newsletter | December 2014

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Identification sign systems at Don Wheaton YMCA

Northern Alberta was in the construction phase of the Don Wheaton Family YMCA facility in downtown Edmonton, Andy Lucardie was “encouraged” by the site superintendent to offer his services to the YMCA. Timing was crucial, as the YMCA wanted to open their parkade facility to the public before completing the construction on the balance of the

Navigational conceptual designs for the Don Wheaton YMCA

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December 2014 | BOMA Edmonton Newsletter | www.bomaedmonton.org

facility. Lucardie states that a signage and “wayfinding campaign” ideally takes shape at the ground breaking phase of a construction project. In its entirety, it must be a well-planned, organic process that includes gathering the necessary clues and environmental information.

The challenge presented was not only in designing a “wayfinding” strategy to help people orient themselves to intuitively find their way in the parkade while construction above ground was in full swing, but to address an additional challenge of establishing an entirely new wayfinding sign standard and guidelines for the YMCA. Being the newest facility, the YMCA wanted to showcase their new facility with new a signage and branding standard. This new wayfinding strategy and standard would then need to be implemented across the other YMCA facilities and programs.

Both challenges were met, and today, all of the YMCA of Northern Alberta programs and facilities have a cohesive and well branded wayfinding strategy to assist its members and participants in navigating throughout the various YMCAs. With each project PinPoint Creative ensures a complete solution that satisfies every requirement of their client’s signage and wayfinding needs while maintaining their brand and creating a positive user experience. It starts with an expert walkthrough where current situations are evaluated and issues are identified. Analysis includes studying circulation

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patterns, potential signage placement, messaging content, viewing distances and development of architectural cues and landmarks that support the plan.

The design phase includes guidelines, maps, pictograms, interfaces, manuals and the manufacturing of each sign.

When required PinPoint collaborates with approved thirdparty suppliers and remain involved in every aspect to ensure the signs are completed to their high standards, and are fully engaged from project conception to final realization.

With the slogan “Marking Destinations,� Pinpoint Creative provides signage and wayfinding solutions for a wide variety of industries and applications. With an unwavering passion for design excellence and customer service, team PinPoint ensures that the end user receives clear, effective communication from research and planning to final installation.

Contact a Pinpoint Creative representative today and learn how your organization will benefit from their customized solutions in Wayfinding | Brand management | New and retrofit solutions | Sign maintenance and updating www.pinpointcreative.ca

www.bomaedmonton.org | BOMA Edmonton Newsletter | December 2014

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WAYFINDING – THE MANY BENEFITS OF A LEGIBLE CITY

BY TREENA L. SCHMIDT

H

ave you ever stopped along a journey and wondered… Where am I? Where am I headed to? How will I get there? Navigation from place to place is an every day human activity.

People tend to use their knowledge and previous experiences to find their way from place to place, but this may be limited to known routes or frequented locations and can limit a person’s exploration of an area. This is where wayfinding can assist. Wayfinding refers to the tools a person uses to orient them to a physical space and navigate from place to place. This may include everything from signs, maps, web or mobile applications to landmarks or other environmental cues. Aside from the obvious benefits to an individual trying to find their way, a coordinated and consistent system of wayfinding has much broader benefits for cities and their business community.

One of the benefit areas is around tourism and city image. Navigating a new city or transport system is an element of culture shock that may be experienced by a new visitor. Visitors are not necessarily tourists on holiday, visitors may include business travellers or local-strangers who may live in the region but have not visited the area for some time. Getting lost can negatively impact the outcome of a business or leisure trip. In fact, a Visitor Survey conducted in Cleveland Ohio in 2012 found that 76 per cent of leisure and 78 per cent of business travelers felt that ease of getting around is important in the decision to visit. Wayfinding can therefore, assist people to easily locate points of interest and gain confidence to venture out and explore more of the city which in turn can improve the ex-

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December 2014 | BOMA Edmonton Newsletter | www.bomaedmonton.org

perience of potential leisure and business travellers and thus improve local business success.

A related benefit area is with place-making and city identity. Wayfinding is part of what the public sees in a city, and indeed may be the first thing a visitor looks for. Not providing information can be seen as not caring for the visitor as much as missing a chance to promote the location. The basic ideas of public relations and advertising a city are linked closely to the tourism and visitor benefits, but wayfinding can extend beyond campaigns to become a part of a city’s identity. A focus on the provision of accurate and reliable information helps improve overall city legibility and can increase visit frequency.

For cities that are seeking to encourage multi-modal transportation—walking, biking, public transit, it has been shown that good information helps people to better understand the walkability of an area and can increase customer satisfaction of transit users. For example, a recent survey in Edmonton showed that 57 per cent of on-street respondents suggested wayfinding would encourage them to walk more. In British Columbia, the regional transport body ‘TransLink’ conducts annual customer surveys. In the June 2010 evaluation, the overall system rating by infrequent transit users rose from 49

per cent to 87 per cent in the category of “good to excellent” as a result of the recently implemented wayfinding. Thus, the provision of wayfinding information can support an integration of travel choices and enable more multimodal journeys.

In conclusion, a coordinated consistent wayfinding system has the potential to increase walking and cycling which supports modal shift. It can also help connect people to transit and provides visitors with the confidence to explore. This in turn, contributes to the overall image of a city and can have a positive impact on local business which ultimately contributes to the visitor economy.

For more info on the City of Edmonton Wayfinding Initiative visit: Edmonton.ca/Wayfinding.

Treena is a Great Neighbourhoods District Coordinator with the City of Edmonton and Co-lead for the Walk Edmonton (Wayfinding) Project.

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WWW.GDISERVICE.COM www.bomaedmonton.org | BOMA Edmonton Newsletter | December 2014

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ECYCLE SOLUTIONS INC: WORKING WITH EDMONTON COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES SINCE 2007 W

ith technological advances happening faster than we have ever seen electronic devices quickly become obsolete creating the fastest growing waste stream in Canada.

In fact the average cell phone has an average life span of 24 months. Think about those old computers, servers, monitors, telephone systems and televisions that are collecting dust under your desk or in that storage room. What can be done with obsolete technologies to ensure that they do not go to waste in landfill and the information within electronic devices is secure while disposing of the items in an environmentally responsible manner? eCycle Solutions is an expert electronics recycler and refurbisher and has worked with BOMA Edmonton and commercial real estate businesses in Edmonton to ensure secure recycling of electronics since 2007. Proper recycling of electronic waste reduces the environmental footprint by reducing greenhouse gases, keeping hazardous materials such as lead and mercury out of the environment, and recovering precious commodities that alater produced into new consumer goods.

Founded in 2005 in Alberta eCycle Solutions Inc. is a privately wholly Canadian owned company, and is the nations largest electronics recycler.

Proper certification of your electronics recycling processor is paramount, eCycle Solutions is an approved and auditied processor under the Alberta Recycling Management Authority (www.albertarecycling.ca) to ensure that all environmental and security protocols are met in accordance with local, national, and international legislation. In fact eCycle Solutions is certified in each provincial electronics recycling stewardship program nation wide in addition to ISO 9001, 14001, and OHSAS 18001 at each of our five processing facilies. If your recycler is not approved under Canada’s stewardship programs you should ask yourself – why not? At the end of the day your electronics may not be handled in accordance with the law or to your expectations. eCycle Solutions provides secure electronics recycling services to commercial property managers, government, municipalities, and businesses of all sizes across Canada. Our services are adapted for your properties and specific business requirements. From initial contact we can provide customized infrastructure, pick up service, asset recovery programs, and secure recycling and destruction. Your electronics will be taken directly from your site to our secure site in Edmonton.

On arrival these assets are received and tracked into a unique

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December 2014 | BOMA Edmonton Newsletter | www.bomaedmonton.org

load identifier that traces each item from pickup to reciept and final processing.

In the process electronics can be cued in for reformatting and resale or recycling and destruction as per your needs.

Electronics destined for reformatting and resale purposes are processed with a Department of Defense approved software system that scrambles any information making it unrecoverable, it is then reformatted and resold. Materials intended for recycling and destruction are broken down into their commodities through manual and mechanical processes rendering them completely inoperable. Hazards are removed and all commodities are sent to downstream audited an approved processors.

Look for eCycle Solutions Inc. at BOMA Edmonton events for cell phone and battery recyling at no charge, through your property manager for an electronics recycling round up, or contact us directly for a customized service package to suit your business needs. Additional information on our services and locations can be found on our website at www.ecyclesolutions.com, by calling toll free at 1.888.945.2611 or emailing alberta@ecyclesolutions.com.

Shawn Searle (B.Sc, B.Ed) – Business Development Manager, Western Canada Shawn Searle has been an expert in recycling for 10 years and with eCycle Solutions Inc. for over 7 years. As a board member of the Recycling Council of Alberta he has access to the latest information in electronics and other types of recycling not only in Alberta but internationally. His electronics recycling experience also has him working with environmental organizations such as the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council, Electronics Products Recycling Association, and Alberta C.A.R.E.

secure electronics recycling