UoC Koawa Studios
UoC Koawa Studios is the largest digital production facility in the South Island. It’s where production crews find the perfect voices and soundtracks for their films and games, as long as they can find their way to the correct studio. Which they can now.
Good signage leads to great storytelling
Spread over 11 hectares, Koawa Studios is a $90 million purpose-built facility where storytelling, creative technology and the entertainment industry converge. NZ has a buoyant film industry and has become a firm favorite for international productions, backed by Government incentives and a first-class infrastructure, of which Koawa is playing a leading role. To do so, and in an industry where the idiom ‘time is money’ applies so readily, there was a need for clear direction that would make navigating the facility easy for visiting production crews.
Getting the show on the road
Koawa is where different production crews pack in and out. The props, equipment and the talent must move effectively to keep the show on the road And with multiple entrances and exits, along with a dizzying array of studios and internal rooms, the facility needed a wayfinding system that was suitably big and bold.
Lights, Camera…
Production facilities typically demand more in terms of wayfinding than normal building types. There’s a high turnover of temporary residents and production schedules are notoriously tight and cost-sensitive, meaning any misdirection and lateness can have a compounding financial impact. To overcome any ambiguity, we studied the different journeys taken to the destination studio or soundstage, observing how the entrance points changed depending on whether the journey was being taken by equipment, crew, or the talent. Wayfinding signage was scaled up for easy-reading from a distance on the outside, with prominent back-lighting, and the naming logic was consistently applied from the exterior to the interior, removing any doubt for fast-moving crew members and clients.
Action
Our wayfinding solution for the facility covered
- Campus entry and check-in signage
- Stage and workshop identification
- Directional signs across lot and backlot
- Gate, dock and parking identification
Done in one take
Koawa Studios has enjoyed spectacular success since opening. In 2024, it became home to the Aardman Academy, backed by the BAFTA and Academy Award winning animation studio famous for stop-start animation motion pictures such as Wallace & Gromit. Feature films and TV crews continue to use the facility and it plays an important role in the NZ entertainment industry, whose members are able to easily find their place on the various sound stages and the different studios when needed, thanks to our wayfinding solution. Indeed, while our signs may not make the end credits, we like to think they’ve helped lead to many a ‘happily ever after’.
End to end.
