SYDNEY WATER

 

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Sydney Water - Parramatta Head Office

The main meeting room floor is clad in American Oak panelling with integrated heritage displays.

These tell the story in the lead up to the formation of Sydney Water at the turn of the century through to the building of Warrangamba Dam in the 1960’s.

Sydney Water moved their corporate headquarters to Parramatta in 2009. The iconic new building was designed by Denton Corker Marshall and built by Brookfield Mutiplex, with interiors by Woods Bagot and the environmental branding & signage system by BrandCulture Communications.

The core concept reflects the ‘journey to Parramatta’, a visual narrative of Sydney Water’s history from Australian white settlement to the present day and beyond. The journey begins on the ground floor and arrives at the destination on Level 16 breakout area. Meeting rooms throughout the building were named after bays and parks that correspond with significant points and places of interest along the Parramatta River.

Each lift lobby features a graphic representation of the river sections, listing the meeting rooms for easy navigation. Large numbers adorn the walls on either side of lift lobbies, supported by a custom-made signage system denoting the departments housed on each floor. Acrylic and blue vinyl lines were used to keep a clean and light finish. The 12mm laser-cut acrylic with polished edges, sits 10mm off the wall to create a floating effect. Light catches the signage edge, creating a glistening water effect as people pass by.

The brand is focused on three core areas- history, staff and the brand communications within the environment. Sydney Water’s rich cultural heritage features as a defining motif that lends depth and solidity that could easily have been lost in a modern built environment. BrandCulture met with Sydney Water heritage consultants to become familiar with key historic achievements and to conduct research of photographic archives. The process uncovered superb images showing the human face behind the company, from candid images of men digging ditches to formal shots of Federation-era board members. Other images show the spectacular equipment and engineering feats being undertaken that were regarded as revolutionary for their time.

These images were printed to optically clear film and applied to the vanceva (coloured glass) in the meeting rooms. A coarse ‘screen’ runs through the images to maintain consistency across many different photographic types and quality. The print acts as a seclusion zone between staff and occupants in the meeting rooms. On the roof-top breakout area, a brief explanation of the images appears on a feature wall to add meaning and context to the environment.

Sydney Water’s history is specifically recognised in two locations – the Chairman’s floor, where images of past and present chairmen and presidents feature, and also on the main meeting room and training floor where fifteen key events in the history of Sydney Water are highlighted, from the formation of the Board to the building of Warragamba Dam. Combinations of acid-etched smoky acrylic panels with paint-filled lettering are attached to ink-imprinted anodized-aluminium sheets that sit off the wall, floating to give a gallery effect.

On the main breakout level, a tribute to staff features at the lift exits, via an images gallery that is visible as people walk through to the breakout area. 15 acrylic displays feature an ever-changing acknowledgement of current staff that have made significant contributions to the company or to the greater community, emphasising the importance of living the everyday values at Sydney Water. The display wall features a multi-layered acrylic wave expressing the key behaviours of the company, educating and reminding staff of their role as Sydney Water brand ambassadors.

In the main building breakout which spans the whole 16th floor (except for 3 meeting rooms), a wall traversing the building from north to south features 15 large, 20mm thick polished acrylic panels. These panels are updated quarterly with current brand campaign messaging inserts. Each quarterly theme concentrates on a particular area of the business and educates staff about key messaging, particularly around sustainability issues such as carbon neutral, recycled water and desalination.

BrandCulture have an ongoing working relationship with Sydney Water to revise these messages and maintain the fifteen core brand communication displays.

The building’s statutory signage needed to conform with regulations while being compatible with architectural finishes and demanded professionally designed iconography and well presented typography. Formed signs were created for tactile requirements, and durable anodised aluminium selected for all other remaining statutory signage.


Excerpt form Sydney Water website 9.8.09

Sydney Water delivers essential and sustainable water services for the benefit of the community. Sydney Water provides drinking water, recycled water, wastewater services and some stormwater services to more than four million people in Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. Drinking water is sourced from a network of dams managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority, then treated and delivered to customers’ homes and businesses by Sydney Water. Sydney Water is Australia’s largest water utility with over 3,200 staff and an area of operations covering 12,700 km2.

Sydney Water, a statutory State owned corporation, wholly owned by the New South Wales Government has three equal, principal objectives:

Read more at: Sydney Water



BRANDING
There are three areas of the brand that were focussed on here: the history, the staff and the current Brand communications that need to be communicated.
The history of Sydney Water is recognised in two locations; on the Chairmans floor images of past presidents and chairmen are recognised up to the current chairman; on the main meeting room and training floor 15 key events in the history of Sydney Water are highlighted, from the formation of the Board to the building of Warragamba Dam.
A combination of acid etched smokey acrylic panels with paint filled lettering are attached to ink imprinted anodised aluminium sheets that sit off the wall, floating to give a gallery effect.
On the main breakout level staff are recognised as you exit the lift and walk though to the breakout area, there are 15 acrylic displays in which prints are inserted each quarter of staff that have made significant achievements, some as a part of company life but also personal and community recognised activities. These aim to inspire other to do similar activities and add value to everyday life at Sydney Water. The wall on which these displays attach is a multilayered acrylic wave displaying the key behaviors of the company, educating staff to be ambassadors to the Sydney Water brand.
In the main building breakout which spans the whole 16th floor (bar 3 meeting rooms) a wall traverses the building form North to South, there are 15 large 20mm thick acrylic panels floating off the wall, these are updated each quarter with brand messaging. Each quarterly theme concentrates on a particular area of the business and educates staff of the key massaging everyone needs to be aware of; carbon neutral, recycled water, desalination… etc.
BrandCulture have an ongoing working relationship with Sydney Water to revise these messages and maintain the 15 core communication displa


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