Denver Health: Innovative Architectural Signage Shines Bright In Denver

Like a beacon calling out to the community, the heart on the Denver Health logo shines bright atop a new 7-story Outpatient Medical Center.

Denver Health’s Outpatient Medical Center is a state-of-the-art 293,000 square foot building that allows Denver Health to provide treatment at a wide range of clinics, urgent care, day surgery and more, all under one roof. Consolidating these clinics in the new Outpatient Medical Center frees up much-needed space around the Denver Health campus, allowing the hospital to boost primary care services, increase the number of inpatient beds, and double the number of operating rooms.

Collaborating with the team at Stantec, our signage team set sights on bringing the designs to life. “Their logo really speaks to who they are at Denver Health,” says Justin Halverson, Business Development Manager. “They serve the community with a huge heart. It was an honor to collaborate on this project with them.”

(Manufacturing images included, keep reading.)

High Rise Exterior Architectural Signage

Latitude Signage Latimer Group designed, built, and installed the exterior architectural signage and wayfinding signs for the Outpatient Medical Center. The biggest challenge of this project was to install the illuminated logo signage on top of the glass-front building.

“Executing the exterior sign was a great collaboration,” says Halverson. “We had to come up with a design solution that would allow us to hang the sign on the glass façade. The general contractor installed knife plates between the windows to support a tube structure. Then we fabricated the sign to be installed along that structure.”

In addition to the production details to make this sign possible, there were also logistical challenges. “We had to find a place where the ground was level enough to bring in a crane so the sign could be safely installed,” Halverson says. “For the other logo sign we used a swing stage since a crane wasn’t logistically possible at that location.”

Careful planning during the production design phase and collaboration across sign specialties ensured the engineering of the signage to to be spot on for a smooth install of the high-rise signage.

Exterior Wayfinding Signage

As part of the larger Denver Health medical campus, the wayfinding signage at the Outpatient Medical Center had to show clear information and be consistent with the rest of the campus, like existing parking and directional signs. To accomplish this, new monument signs with maps that help visitors orient themselves with the campus were added.

The maps are made from translucent acrylic with a digital print that sits inside a cabinet and provides references to buildings and show paths to follow. These maps are created with ease of updates in mind as the medical campus continues to grow in the future. Then, large totem-style monument signs list the building’s identifying letter (related to maps) so that patrons know when they’ve arrived at the right building.

An interesting feature on the monument signs is the subtle but stylish background image. A nod to the roadmap of the campus is shown in a neutral two-tone palette. “This frisket-painted background image really elevates the look of the exterior signage. Our exterior signage manufacturing team in Grinnell, Iowa really hit the mark on these,” Halverson says.

Being an early partner, with companies like Stantec, allow designs to come to ‘life’ through production design, manufacturing, and installation. There’s nothing like seeing a brand, logo, or idea come to life. See images below for manufacturing images.

Learn more about this project here from our friends at Denver Health Outpatient Medical Center. Learn more about wayfinding signage here.

Have a question on this project or need help bringing your ideas to life? Reach out to Justin Halverson or any of our Sign Experts.