PearsonLloyd’s City Information System has a powerful, modern presence in the city of Bath’s historic streetscape.
London-based design studio PearsonLloyd has rethought and redesigned the streets and public spaces of one of the United Kingdom’s most historic cities, Bath.
Designing the city’s wayfinding system, bus shelters and street furniture proved to be a challenging project for the design studio due to Bath residents’ tendency to view changes made to the city as an act of cultural vandalism.
The project sprung from a wider Public Realm and Movement Strategy titled “Creating the Canvas for Public Life in Bath”. Following a 30-year gap in Bath’s development, the 15 to 20-year project aims to transform the streets and public spaces of the city in order to revitalise its economy, identity and stamp its relevance as a 21st-century city.
PearsonLloyd took inspiration from the geometric forms of Bath’s layout and its predominantly 18th-century architecture to create a circular map made from brass for the unique wayfinding system. This bold, geometric aesthetic is extended by the studio’s bus shelters, which are composed of a series of bronze blocks.
While the aesthetic of the studio’s proposals fall in line with the city’s heritage, the integrated wayfinding graphics have been described as “wholly innovative” and “the first of its kind”. The graphics successfully merge pedestrian and transport routes, and were developed in collaboration with CityID and FWDesign.
Along with designing the bus shelters and wayfinding systems, the studio is also developing benches, bins, water fountains, street trading units and bicycle stands, all using bronze as the primary material.
