Exterior Treatments Robust & Functional Branding

Window Vinyls & Manifestation

Store windows are great branding and promotional real estate, often used as billboards, with the ability to have information facing inwards or outwards. 

As a smooth stable substrate, minimum preparation is needed, making installation fast and cost effective. Vinyls can be changed regularly by choosing a removable grade where removal and replacement take a fraction of the time compared to regular self-adhesive vinyl. 

If a customers’ ability to see into the premises is restricted, limit the amount of glazing covered or go for a semi-transparent design. 

Manifestation is typically applied to make the presence of glazing obvious for safety reasons, such as on glass doors but can also be decorative or include branding.

Building Cladding

As owners of one of the UK’s premier bespoke cladding business, CGL Facades, we are uniquely well-placed to deliver projects that combine signage and cladding. 

Cladding is a great way to express a brand as well as modernising a tired or unsightly building. Put simply, it is an additional external skin, which can last up to 25 years. The building envelope is never compromised so disruption is minimal. 

The range of colours, textures, forms and finishes is unlimited, cladding panel size and orientation is flexible too. From horizontal or vertical bands, to large or small panels, or even a combination of colours, complimentary or contrasting, we can customise to any requirement.

Full Fascia/Facade Treatments

The store fronts in every estate vary enormously which is not the ideal scenario for a brand designer. Overcladding an entire façade, (i.e., everything visible except the doors and glazing) can give sites unity and strong brand expression. 

In every estate there are likely to be sites where the ability to overclad the facades is limited by local planning regulations, possibly because the building is listed or in a conservation area and everyone must respect and work within those constraints.  However, where circumstances allow a bright new face to the world can be presented. That is the approach we have applied to many national store networks, ensuring the unity of the estate as a whole is maintained 

When every brand is placing a premium on standing out in the high street, a new fascia or full façade treatment will provide that elevation. 

Entrance Portals

Many customers may not want to clad an entire elevation for  reasons such as planning restrictions or cost. There are also cases where a more limited, strategic feature is more desirable and that can be in the form of an entrance portal. 

Sometimes referred to as a ‘Portico’, it highlights an entrance and provides strong wayfinding cues to an access point. 

When many buildings feature glass curtain-wall facades including glass doors, the entrance is not always easy to identify, a problem solved by a contrasting portal. This can also serve as a brand-coloured backdrop, upon which logos can be placed.  

Portals can be of minimal depth in front of the building façade or built to a depth of over a metre to become a strong 3D feature which also acts as a shelter at the entrance, welcoming customers.

Light Features

It’s hard to ignore the increased emphasis on lighting. Whether it’s on DIY home renovation shows, local bank branches, stores or gyms – lighting is becoming a real go-to for adding brand appeal or creating a mood. 

We have installed many different lighting features to external facades and store interiors, LED lighting being the best option for low-cost, low maintenance and great impact. 

Whether it’s a brand-coloured light-strip, a brand-coloured wash of light on an entire external elevation or a means of creating a mood that adds to the customer experience, we can design and deliver lighting solutions. 

Full Colour Window Graphics

Any form of window graphics can be powerful but full colour large-scale photographic images are often the most powerful of all. Featuring products or people, iconic images from marketing campaigns or inspirational graphics showing what can be achieved when people use brands’ products or services, full colour window graphics can be uniquely compelling. 

Large Format Wall Graphics

Sometimes, exterior walls can provide a blank canvas to display large format graphics or digital wallpaper as it is sometimes known.  Design opportunities are limitless and we can advise on when, where and how much use is appropriate.

Whether decorative, promotional or part of making exteriors more experiential, large format graphics always create maximum impact. 

Brise Soleil

Brise soleil is the literal translation for ‘bright sun’ and problems caused by bright sun on glazing is what a brise soleil is designed to negate. Comprising a series of slats mounted horizontally above glazing, the brise soleil not only shades occupants from the severity of the sun’s glare, but they also add a strong architectural element and hi-tech feel to any building. 

Our own brise soleil aluminium profile in a sleek aerofoil form, with the option to include a built-in LED light-strip, is a great way to extend brand colour across a façade and another one of those features that combines function with brand and aesthetic upgrade to great effect.