Northyards

LOCATION Atlanta
CLIENT Cushman & Wakefield

The wayfinding signage Sky Design envisioned for the Northyards Business Park is inspired by the rich history of this Atlanta development. The property was originally developed in 1911 for a Southern Railway roundhouse to service and assemble passenger trains. A series of one-story warehouse buildings followed from 1925 through 1963. Those warehouses were converted to office space in 2002. That same year, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The property subsequently underwent another complete renovation in 2015.

For the most recent renewal, property manager Cushman & Wakefield hired Sky Design for their creative vision, and they hired us to bring that vision to life.

In recognition of the property’s rich history, Sky design included motifs in the wayfinding and environmental graphics signage that bring to mind rail yards and industrial warehousing, while still feeling inviting, clean, and modern. To build these design elements we used huge, rough-finished pressure treated beams, along with raw steel, oversized hardware, and perforated square posts and angles. Where shapes did not exist off the shelf, we fabricated brackets and panels, and cut-out directional arrows and dimensional letters. To complete the raw look, we further distressed the beams and stained them to add apparent age. The raw steel was either rusted and clear coated using our proprietary method or painted in vibrant colors. The result is playfully dynamic while retaining a nod to an industrial aesthetic.

Sky Design and Henry Incorporated provided Cushman & Wakefield a unique package of wayfinding signage that clearly states that Northyards Business Park is steeped in Atlanta history but is also very much at home in the modern world.