Do You Remember Where You Parked?

As part of the stage six, 33,00 square meter expansion of Westfield Chermside Shopping Centre an additional 6000 car parks were built.

The Westfield Chermside Carpark now comprises 5 levels, including one underground, a mezzanine and three above ground levels.

It was now time to develop a holistic Wayfining strategy for car parking at the shopping centre.

Scentre Group, the Westfield developers, approached Dotdash to assist with this project.

A key consideration of the Wayfinding strategy was the size and complexity of the site.

The key issues were when the driver converts to the pedestrian.

Row columns were painted a base black to frame the key highlight colours. Column row numbering was positioned to be highly visible by approaching drivers.

Using colour and the colour name to differentiate each parking area was reinforced by the use of strong, large environmental graphics to highlight entry points into the centre.

Another key feature of the Wayfinding strategy was to employ the phrase “Do you remember where you’ve parked your car?” on the entrance identification signage, prompting users to stop and take a mental note of where they’d parked.

This project illustrates the effective intersection between place making environmental graphics and legible, strategic way finding design. The car park was transformed from an enormous, visually homogenous area that was difficult for users to navigate and differentiate into a vibrant series of interconnected spaces that allowed users to efficiently arrive and depart from the shopping centre.

Since completion, the centre has received positive feedback from shoppers about the car park.