Alberta Legislature District
The Alberta Legislature District is the heart of Alberta’s government. The Alberta Legislature and Capital District is a diverse area that includes numerous government facilities centred around the Legislative building, and linked by one of Canada’s great urban parks. With over 100 years of history, the area developed inconsistently and had become underutilized.
Cygnus joined a revitalization effort to modernize the buildings and grounds and enhance the site as a public destination.
Our team developed a wayfinding master plan outlining the principles of wayfinding across the site, and exploring how wayfinding works on site and in the context of the larger community. The master plan also includes naming and nomenclature strategy, placemaking efforts, site branding, exterior and interior wayfinding, as well as interpretive signage proposals. Our work developed a framework to commemorate the past; share the Province’s legacy; evoke a sense of pride, ownership, and community; and most importantly embrace the future of the site.
Dual identities were developed to distinguish the public park grounds from the broader Capital District. The Legislative grounds were branded with an identity that links the park grounds to the legislative area while establishing the grounds as a unique destination unto itself.
Within the Capital District, zoning research established a colour system to mark five sub-zones that make the Capital District more understandable and easier to explain. The zone names are related to the area and geography of the site as it cascades down from the City to the Embankment.
Strategies presented in the Wayfinding Master Plan led to the development of a holistic wayfinding program for pedestrians and vehicles including bicycle pathway signs, fingerpost directional signs, pylon site directories, dimensional sitemaps and building identification signs. Interior implementation includes wayfinding at the iconic Federal Building — a historic site within the Capital District — along with the parkade and Pedway system.
