April 3, 2018 Our File: /000/ Doc#: V5. City Manager General Manager Strategic Initiatives. City Hall Exterior Signage

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1 Coouitlam For Committee 3 April 3, 2018 Our File: /000/ Doc#: V5 To: From: City Manager General Manager Strategic Initiatives Subject: For: City Hall Exterior Signage Council-in-Committee Recommendation: That the Committee receives the report from the General Manager Strategic Initiatives entitled "City Hall Exterior Signage" dated April 3, 2018 for information. Report Purpose: This report provides Council information on the planned enhancements to the exterior signage of City Hall for the purposes of better facility identification, branding and way finding. Strategic Goal: This report supports the City's strategic goals of "Enhancing Sustainability of City Services and Infrastructure" and "Achieving Excellence in City Governance". Background: City Hall was built in 1998 and is the primary civic facility for City Council and the majority of City administrative staff. It houses the Council Chambers, the main venue for regular Council and public meetings. It has public-facing counters and meeting areas to enable citizens and other visitors to interact with City staff and to conduct municipal-related transactions. It serves as an important symbol of the municipal government in Coquitlam. It is therefore important that City Hall be easily identifiable and that it provides signage that aligns with the City's visual brand identify. In a continuous effort to improve City Hall identification as well as branding and way finding with more visible exterior signage, staff carried out an assessment of options and will undertake the work necessary as outlined in this report. File #: /000/ Doc #: V5

2 Page 2 April 3, 2018 Strategic Initiatives staff worked with the Corporate Communications, Development Services and Transportation divisions to identify viable options for augmenting existing exterior City Hall signage at strategic locations outside the facility. / Discussion/Analysis: As mentioned above, a number of options were explored looking at both potential enhancements to existing signage as well as new signage. Further details on options and locations that were assessed are summarized for your information in Attachment 1-4 of this report. There is an existing 10 ft. by 5 ft. City Hall sign along Pinetree Way that was installed as part of the Pinetree Way and plaza improvement in This sign bears (on the side facing Pinetree Way) the approved Coquitlam logo and nomenclature for the building, including the address of City Hall. The back of the sign has a plain black background and faces the public benches in the plaza. Staff looked at the option of adding artwork (using an anti-graffiti laminate) at the back. Option 1, depicting a picture of a Coquitlam landscape with a call-to-action message that says "Connect with Coquitlam" to enhance the existing sign and provide a more welcoming experience for those traversing the plaza or using the public seating. We considered but dismissed Option 2 which involves the extension of a vertical support metal frame by three feet to elevate the sign and allow visibility for seated patrons but this would potentially become a barricade at the general eye sight level of walking pedestrians. Corporate Communications developed mock-ups of potential artwork and graphics that will be applied to the back of the sign and they are shown in Attachment 2, with staff preference noted for the first rendering. For new signage options. Options 3 and 4 entail the addition of the Coquitlam logo and the City Hall nomenclature on the curved brick exterior wall of the building that faces the plaza at the intersection of Pinetree Way and Guilford Way. This provides a prominent identifier to City Hall for motorists, pedestrians and those using the SkyTrain Evergreen Line. Option 3. uses LED Channel letterings for illumination at night, while Option 4 is without backlight illumination. Two alternatives for Option 3 that uses either an all-white or colored LED Chanel letterings are shown in Attachment 3. Staff is intending to install Option 3 with File #: /000/ Doc #: V5

3 Pages April 3, 2018 backlit all-white lettering to minimize conflict or competition with the light column in the plaza, which is illuminated in a variety of colors throughout the year. Option 5 is made of cut-out letters made from aluminum or other alternate materials. Staff believes that this signage, if implemented, would be prone to vandalism and would therefore cause maintenance issues in the long-term. Option 6 is a vertical sign that is similar to the signage recently installed at Evergreen Cultural Centre site. This is a relatively expensive option and staff believes that this design might not be a suitable complement to the existing vertical light column on the City Hall plaza. Option 7 involves the addition of another sign along Guildford Way, similar to the design of the existing signage along Pinetree Way. This sign would provide an additional identifier for pedestrians traveling eastbound along Guildford Way but don't feel it necessary due to lesser volume of pedestrian traffic in this corridor. Therefore, options 5, 6 and 7, were dismissed in our assessment in favour of Option 1 and Option 3 with added way finding signage around City Hall. As the Transportation division reviewed the way finding signage installed in 2017, two additional locations were identified where standard way finding signage should be added. The first is to be located for traffic westbound on Guildford Way near the Evergreen Cultural Centre and the second one is for traffic southbound on Pinetree Way near the City Centre Aquatic Complex. For consistency, an old sign that is located along Guildford Way beside City Hall will be removed as it is redundant and does not comply with current design standards. A map that shows existing and new locations of the way finding signage is on Attachment 4. After evaluating all the options in terms of impact and ability to provide an effective identifier to City Hall, maintainability, cost-effectiveness and alignment with corporate branding, visual identity standards and Signs By-law regulations, staff will be carrying out Option l and Option 3 for exterior signage and make the necessary enhancements to the way finding signage as presented in this report. Financial Implications: The capital cost of installing options l and 3 above is estimated at $23,500 and will be funded from the Asset Pool Program. The operating cost of the new LED lights is expected to be minimal and will be covered under the Facilities division's existing operating budget for City Hall. The addition of two new way finding signs and File #: /000/ Doc #: V5

4 Page 4 April 3, 2018 removal of the old/redundant sign will be done by Engineering staff and will be funded from their existing operating budget. Conclusion: Staff explored various options to further enhance City Hall's identification, branding and way finding. After analyzing a number of options, staff has identified a set of solutions that is a combination of enhancement to existing signage as well as a new addition to the exterior of the building. Staff believes that this set of solutions would achieve better identification, branding and way finding benefits to an important civic facility that provides important services and connection to City Council, citizens, staff, visitors and other stakeholders. Staff proposes to proceed with these^igpage enhancements unless Council choose to provide a different alternative or.direction. Andreea Toma Attachments: 1 - City Hall exterior signage options 2 - Artwork alternatives for the back of the existing City Hall signage 3 - Alternatives for LED signage for City Hall exterior options (mock ups) 4 - City Hall/Public Safety Building way finding signage (Existing and New) This report was prepared by Pinky de la Cruz, Manager City Facilities Assets, with inputs from Kevan Comes, Manager Facilities; Kathleen Vincent, Manager Corporate Communications; Dan Mooney, Manager Transportation; George Fujii, Director Development Services; and Gorana Cabral, Budgets Manager File #: /000/ Doc #: V5

5 ATTACHMENT 1 CITY HALL EXTERIOR SIGNAGE OPTIONS OPTION # DESCRIPTION IMAGE ESTIMATED COST 1 Staff Preference Leave existing signage in current location, add artwork/ graphics to back with antigraffiti laminate $1, Dimensions: 10 ft x 5 ft (WxH) Similarto optionl but base height increased by 3' (dimensions still compliant with Signage By-law) $3,000 Dimensions: 10 ft x 8 ft (WxH) NEW SIGNAGE 3 Staff Preference New LED Channel lettering on curved brick wall Approx. Dimensions: 19 ft X 6 ft (WxH) $22,000 4 Same as option 3 except not lighted Approx. Dimensions: 19 ft X 6 ft (WxH) $3,500 File #: /000/ Doc #; V1

6 ATTACHMENT 1 CITY HALL EXTERIOR SIGNAGE OPTIONS OPTION # DESCRIPTION IMAGE ESTIMATED COST Cut-out letters made from aluminum or alternate materials $8,500 Approx. Dimensions: 10ftx5ft(WxH) Similar to the signage recently installed at Evergreen Cultural Centre. Powder coated black aluminum with push through illuminated text installed on concrete plinth base. $43,000 Approx. Dimensions: 2.5ftxl5ft(WxH) Additional signage located along Pinetree Way $6,000 Dimensions: 10 ft x 5 ft (WxH) File#: /000/ Doc#: V1

7 ATTACHMENT 2 Alternative # ARTWORK ALTERNATIVES FOR THE BACK OF THE CITY HALL'S EXISTING SIGNAGE (i.e., along PInetree Way) IMAGE 1 Staff Preference CONNECT WITH COOUITLAM n#@aoa coquitlam.ca File#: /000/ Doc#: V1

8 ATTACHMENT 3 ALTERNATIVES FOR LED SIGNAGE FOR CITY HALL EXTERIOR (MOCK UPS) Alternative # IMAGE 1 Staff Preference File#: /000/ Doc#: V1

9 File#: /000/ Doc#: V2 ATTACHMENT 4