Signage at The Terry Thomas in Seattle, WA.

Terry Thomas Environmental Graphics

Weber Thompson’s Graphic Design Studio designed a new set of environmental graphics and wayfinding signage for the award-winning Terry Thomas building in Seattle’s South Lake Union.

Client Name

Steven C. Grey & Associates

Location

Seattle, WA

COMPLETION DATE

2014, 2019

Services

Environmental Graphic Design

Contacts

Leslie Riibe
Environmental Graphic Design

Program Overview

Environmental graphics and wayfinding signage for 40,000 GSF LEED Gold Certified office building

Engages tenants through signage and ongoing data visualization to encourage behavioral shifts

PHOTOGRAPHY: WEBER THOMPSON

Occupant education

One of the core principles of The Terry Thomas building is reduced energy use. In 2013, Weber Thompson’s Graphic Design Studio was tapped to help create a set of applied graphics to educate building occupants about the importance of energy-reducing behaviors. The goal was to lower the building’s already low energy use, which is about 50% less than a comparable building.

Tracking & ongoing improvement

Weber Thompson’s Graphic Design Studio worked hand in hand with the building management company, Stephen C. Grey and Associates, to not only create the graphics, but track energy use and engage the tenants of the building. The thesis being that sustainable design is key in energy efficiency, but ongoing improvement can only occur when all tenants are engaged in the energy conservation goals of the building.

Enticing cyclists

This new set of environmental graphics and wayfinding signage for the building encourages use of the internal stairs rather than the elevator. The stairwell includes data about overall building energy use, provides space for tracking data in the future, defines key terms and metrics for building energy use, and gives stair users insight about how their efforts are making a difference in the building’s energy use. In a later phase, additional graphics were applied to the exterior of a bike room added to the building’s parking level. This vibrant patterning made the bike room easier to find and more fun to use.