This wayfinding strategy and map design were undertaken as part of a wider SIFF scheme within Prescot, Knowsley. It grew from research into the history of the town and Shakespeare’s connections to it. The designs are contemporary, but sympathetic to the surrounding townscape, deriving their form and material from the industries that made Prescot globally famous; watch-making and cable making.
The features share a layered approach to materials, with an outer skin, or sheath, and an internal core. This plays with the similarities between book binding (the Estate of Lord Knowsley owns a 4th Folio of Shakespeare’s Works) and the protective layers of a cable. Prescot’s BICC factory supplied cables globally, from Moscow to the USA, along with submarine cabling. Small copper mesh detailing is combined with LED lighting to provide a modern feel, highlighting the family of monoliths and fingerposts. Lighting was a particular aspiration of the client, linking to the architectural lighting that will mark the facade of the new Shakespeare North Playhouse.
The use of Photocast techniques enabled the inclusion of photographic archive material in the metal totems which gave them both a Wayfinding and contextual role. The map design avoids the more urban feel that a lot of signage reverts to and is simple in form.
Photography Robert Davis
Manufactured and installed by TrueForm signs the fingerposts and totems create a family of units sharing material, finish and LED lighting. Quotations from Shakespeare’s plays accompany images of the town at different points in history, and are also included on circular base plates.