Broadway Housing Communities

Pentagram designed the identity for Broadway Housing Communities, a non-profit developer of supportive housing in New York, and created the environmental graphics for BHC’s most recent initiative, the Sugar Hill Project in Harlem’s historic neighborhood of the same name. The 171,000 sq. ft. mixed-use development brings together permanent housing with early education, educational advocacy and access to the arts via a new cultural institution, the Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, an 18,000 sq. ft. area that houses interactive exhibition and performances spaces and an artist-in-residence studio. Designed by Adjaye Associates, the innovative 13-story building rejects the idea that low-income housing must be somber and cheerless, with a striking angular design that steps back to cantilever on both sides and offers dramatic 360-degree views of New York City. The distinctive surface of the textured slab building features rose-embossed panels for an ornamental effect. This thoughtful attention to materials extends to the environmental graphics program as well. The identification signage is fabricated of bronze, which stands out from the textured surface of the façade and its neutral grey coloring. The signage and environmental graphics have been designed to distinguish each of the building’s four distinct areas: Preschool, Children’s Museum, Residence, and Offices. Each area has its own bright color scheme, and the wayfinding program is extended to the floor, where it is closer to the sightline of the children and easier to navigate.

Design Team

Eddie Opara (Art Director, Designer), Brankica Harvey (Associate, Designer), Pedro Mendes (Designer)

Project Area

171,000 sq ft

Consultants

Adjaye Associates (architect), SLCE Architects LLP (architects)

Fabricators

Kamhi Kolor (interior signage fabrication), Signs+Decal (exterior signage fabrication)