| Facilities Home | Students | Employees | Contractors | Clients |
Office of Campus Planning & Space Management
Campus Signs and Wayfinding
Development of the Auburn University Sign and Way Finding Guidelines, a component of the Auburn University Comprehensive Campus Master Plan, was initiated and guided by an ad hoc committee of University stakeholders convened by the Office of Campus Planning & Space Management. The committee was composed of faculty members from the Departments of Landscape Architecture and Industrial Design; graphic designers from the Office of Communications & Marketing; representatives from the Facilities Management, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Agricultural Experiment Station; and planners from the Office of Campus Planning & Space Management. Graphic designers from Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Massachusetts responding to the input of the committee proposed a uniform “family of signs” to improve wayfinding and enhance identity within the campus environment and beyond.
In the summer of 2009, Auburn University initiated a phased, campus-wide installation of new campus signs coherent with the provisions of the established guidelines. The first phase, consisting primarily of parking and regulatory signs, was executed in the vicinity of the west campus parking lots and The Village. The second phase followed in the fall of 2010 with the installation of regulatory and street identification signs throughout the campus. During the coming months of June, July and August 2011 the third phase will be implemented and will consist of approximately 100 building identification signs and numerous signs for transit stops and pedestrian concourses. Each building sign is a monolithic bronze “blade” that blends with the campus landscape and delicately depicts a “watermark” image of the Samford Hall clock tower as a counterpoint to the bold, yet informal, style of the Whitney typeface. Presence of the street address will improve the efficiency of casual wayfinding, commercial delivery and emergency response.
Site-constructed sign prototypes should be ready for Auburn’s review and approval by mid-June. Upon approval, fabrication of the signs will take place off-campus while construction of the sign foundations takes place on campus. Attachment of the finished signs to their foundations is expected to begin in mid-July and continue into August, pending favorable weather and construction conditions. The magnitude of the project is not large but the installation activity will be widespread throughout the campus core; therefore, we are asking everyone to be careful and watch their steps when they are near construction activity.
In the event that you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact Ben Chapman, Facilities Management Construction Project Manager at 750-4635 / wbc3@auburn.edu or Jeffrey Dumars, Campus Planner at 844-3211 / jdk0006@auburn.edu .
Last Updated: Nov 17, 2011