The good folks at the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust got in touch when they needed designs for a hoarding to go up around the construction site for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

The hospital is pioneering cancer research and early detection of cancers, and is being designed in collaboration with patients and staff.

The site needed a 190 metre long hoarding that would last for the duration of the construction – between four and five years – with a fairly significant change in elevation along its length. The brief asked for the hoarding design to create impact and excitement around the future hospital, to celebrate the partnership between clinical treatment and research, to feature staff and patients, and to work within the existing brand guidelines.

I went through the hospital’s brand toolkit to pull out key messaging, and worked with the Trust team to match that up with photography and architectural renderings, making sure to tell a strong and engaging story no matter which direction you approached the hoarding from. We also included QR codes linking out to more detailed versions of the stories featured on the hoarding.

I then worked with the Trust’s chosen sign company, x sign, to precisely position more than 150 1.22m x 2.44 metre printed panels, allowing for the various changes in elevation, as well as allocating space for an access door, and allowing for some panels to be removed to create vehicle access gates in a year or so. I also made sure to avoid any key messaging being obscured by existing street lights, signs or other street furniture. Screw caps were carefully colour-matched to the artwork.

“It is such a source of immense satisfaction every time I pass it – you couldn’t have done a better job. Thank you so much, the results are outstanding.”
Sophie Taylor | Head of Communications – Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital