Signs of the Times - September 2017 - 56

comprised small departments with
candy, clothing, hardware and sporting goods as well as an old-style
lunch/soda counter.
"It was a historic landmark for them,"
said Heather Storer, an environmental graphic designer with BHDP
Architecture (Cincinnati), "an iconic
place in their neighborhood."
Storer and the rest of the team at
BHDP were tasked with a leading role
in the revitalization of one of Medfield's former heartbeats by Roche Bros.,
a Massachusetts-based supermarket
chain. Roche chose the 9,000-sq.-ft.
former Lord's site as the first location
in their Brothers Marketplace series,
a chain that features fresh groceries,
local fare, prepared meals and essentials. BHDP was hired by Roche to
design the environmental graphics
and wayfinding signage for the repurposed building.
BHDP's first step was to conduct
a neighborhood audit, sending a few
team members to visit local shops
and restaurants. "We photograph
things and immerse ourselves in the
environment so we can bring the
essence of that location into each
56

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

SEPTEMBER 2017

store." Storer said.
After a few days on-site, BHDP -
which also did the design work for
a second Marketplace location in
Weston, MA - completed its research
with its own findings as well as dialogue with local historical societies.
The project paid homage to Lord's by
commissioning a mural of Lord's logo
on a brick wall on the inside of the
building. Local artist Ian Gaudreau was
brought on to paint a mural from a
black-and-white photo of Lord's during
its early days, on the building's exterior.
The Marketplace's interior signage
complemented the grocery's focus on
locally sourced foods and products.
"There are places in the store with
signage where we tell stories about
local farmers and the local products
sold there," Storer said.
BHDP enacted a wood and chalkboard theme throughout the store,
and graphics of old seed packets
were added to the brick walls to
harvest a traditional tone. Despite
being intentionally smaller than a
typical supermarket, the Marketplace
provides plenty of options for consumers, hence the ample signage.

"It relies on a lot of wayfinding
signage because there's a lot of turns
and twists in these places," said John
Bloomstrom, BHDP's marketing
director.
Identity Group (Scarborough,
ME) fabricated a variety of signage
within the store and required a wide
range of materials, from Dibond® to
Komatex® to VM-POLYeight®, with
versatility the priority. "The goal was
to set them up so that they could
make changes to the entire store on
their own," said Jared Galvin, a project manager for Identity Group. "The
dimensional letters on the menus
have magnets, so it's all changeable."
The accent on BHDP's revitalization was what Storer called a
"reinterpreted and modernized" recreation of the former soda counter
that sports a white quartz counter,
subway tile and brushed aluminum
bar stools.
Now, locals are able to experience
a healthy amount of wistful nostalgia
when they visit Medfield's renovated
treasure. "It was a layer of history
and then a new layer of the builder's
brand on top of that," Storer said.
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