Entro designed the environmental graphics to take their cue from the alternating tilted planes of the venue’s dramatic roof structure, itself inspired by the shifting ice and rock fissures in the Canadian Shield. An abstract graphic form, influenced by waveforms interacting with light and shadow, was created for large-scale wall treatments in the building interior and as a key element on signage. This graphic is an iconic element as the dive tower feature backdrop.
We specified primary sign materials—opaque vinyl, aluminum and acrylic—and defined the facility’s typography style before designing building identification (ID), entrance, traffic, directory, electronic message centre (EMC), directional, emergency, departmental and room signage, among other elements within the system. We consulted with the university and the city, which provided guidelines for signs and graphics.
We were inspired by forms in the architecture that resembled shifting ice, which led to our use of offset planes in our pylon designs. The building and the sign system are synchronized visually. The water theme in our supergraphics, which feature abstracted blue patterns along the main corridor to the pool and changing area are contrasted by the graphics in the field house which are more colourful, with red and orange tones.
