Connecting Generations
WesleyLife dedicated the newly remodeled Meals on Wheels building in the Fall of 2023, complete with a hydroponic farm, intergenerational event space, and commercial kitchen. Project7 Design worked closely with the clients to bring the story to life through environmental graphics and wayfinding on every part of the building to launch the space.
In our initial design concepts, we identified personas to understand how and with what frequency visitors and team members would engage within the three floors of the building. After putting together mood boards and sketches, the client landed on our concept of connecting generations, which featured a green line that represents a plant root stemming from the farm in the basement and connecting to the other parts of the building.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MEALS ON WHEELS
The “root” line begins the story of Meals on Wheels at the main entrance and leads visitors through the lobby, picking up along the main corridor where visitors can walk through a day in the life of Meals on Wheels from a volunteer and client perspective.
There are several “impact walls” in the building which feature full vinyl and acrylic installations that emphasize data on food insecurity stats, and the organization’s goals.
Creating a Legacy
An important element of the building is to feature those people and organizations that donated to WesleyLife’s Meals on Wheels capital campaign to make it all happen. P7 designed a donor wall concept that is more like an art installation with engraved wood and acrylic plaques to recognize each donor.
Large donors are recognized in key areas with painted dimensional wood letters, which gives the donors the importance deserved, but in a subtle way with tone-on-tone visual treatment.
In the lobby, visitors are invited to see Meals on Wheels team members and volunteers in action through the large kitchen windows. In addition to the painted dimensional letters designating the large donor, Suzie Glazer Burt, a standoff café sign hangs above the vinyl and acrylic callout on the blue wall.
Vinyl patterns appear on the kitchen, hydroponic farm, and team member breakroom windows — each with slightly varying icons representing the spaces. As part of the wayfinding system, acrylic and vinyl circles wrap corners to create eye-catching signage that can be seen from different hallways and entry points.
Establishing a Wayfinding System
Each floor has a designated color for wayfinding, which includes painted elevator doors in the green, blue, and salmon colors. On the inside steel doors is a full vinyl wrap and another wayfinding point of reference for each floor.
Adjacent to the hydroponic farm in the basement is an educational “learning zone” for all ages. The root leads up from floor decals in multiple places drawing visitors through the space.
Podiums display items that create touch and feel interaction along with their informational questions and answers. Layered acrylic circles on vinyl graphics mirror the growing process visitors can experience through the windows of the hallway itself.
WesleyLife works to do good things – huge things – to revolutionize the experience of aging and serve thousands of clients every day through their Meals on Wheels program, and the p7 team was honored to be a part of this mission.