Anyone entering a freshly constructed condominium tower should take a moment to appreciate how much thought has gone into ‘presenting’ the front entrance and interior lobby. Condo sales are competitive, and modern architects and designers know they must now be even more creative to make their properties appear valuable to buyers and owners. They know residents will want to show off their living spaces to family and friends, and the building’s front entrance and lobby are the first places on-site their folks will experience.
Condo entrances have changed dramatically from the days when they were small, utilitarian doorways with mailboxes opposite two chairs and a trashcan. Such spaces now date older buildings; when we find such entrances with little charm or character, we know the complex was designed and built twenty years ago, and before building décor really mattered. Today a building exterior must be stately, and the lobby should be comfortable and boast some spectacular design features. A custom exterior front entrance sign is now always required, as this ingredient more than anything else affects people’s perception of the place. Making the building’s name come alive outfront is a critical piece of the mix, and making such signage is a service in which Sign Source Solution specializes.
The Savoy gets a custom exterior sign with retro style
So it was with our custom exterior sign making service in mind that Albert Yerushalmi of Eden Engineering Services called us about a special project to restore the dignity of a once-posh property in the heart of a vibrant North York community.
The Savoy was slowly losing its luster, and what was once an upscale address needed some tender love and care to become opulent again.
Located at 10 Torresdale road in North York, The Savoy was built by Tridel in 1989, and it was a real big project at the time. The 23-storey residential tower was a trendsetting real estate development that became a model for other projects in the city. The tall building boasts 209 spacious apartments condo units, indoor swimming pool, sauna, parking garage as well as tennis courts.
Such a bastion of wealth and comfort deserved a statelier front entrance. In the design above you can see the condo board selected pillars to support a thick overhang. The cement block bases on the columns reinforce the buildings’ austerity and suggest a strong foundation.
The ‘Walk Score’ at 10 Torresdale road is 45 / 100, but that number doesn’t consider the appeal of The Savoy’s new front entrance walkway. And this aesthetic variable rose considerably higher last month when Sign Source Solution installed their custom-made acrylic sign with an Illuminated bottom bar on the condo tower’s new freshly renovated entrance walkway.
Below is the first design for the sign, which you can see had the words stacked vertically, one on top of the other.
But something about the first design just didn’t look quite right and after some deliberation the schematic below was ultimately selected.
The sign is constructed with white acrylic letters that have opaque black acrylic faces. We glued black faces right on top of the white letters. The effect will be to glow the white acrylic under the letters so the sign’s words will remain dark but will have a surrounding glow. The bright white aura will make the black letters stand out and resemble a city skyline at twilight; the glow really sets them apart from the sand coloured background. The font selected is reminiscent of the roaring 1920s Great Gatsby style, and or 1930s Depression Era sophistication which is precisely what The Savoy channels in its name.
The letters are 12 inches tall, and in our business there’s a Golden Rule that every inch of letter height will increase the message’s readable distance by ten feet. Therefore this sign should be legible to motorists and pedestrians 120 feet away.
The sign that has been fashioned with LED lights. The power supply is thin and lightweight and the LED lights inside will use approximately one third of the power that would otherwise be consumed by regular fluorescent tubes.
The guts of the sign are very simple; gone are the hot and heavy fluorescent light ballasts in favour of new LEDs that are more energy efficient, cooler, lighter and require almost no maintenance. The sign is guaranteed for five years.
The front entrance of a person’s home forms part of their identity. The door to every home defines that barrier between public and private space and the exterior sign really gives a building its personality. It’s the last thing residents see on their way to work and the first thing they see when they return at the end of their day. In this age of gated entries and grand lobbies in new suburban developments, the resident of The Savoy can hold their heads just as high and be just as proud of their properties’ stylish front porch.