Wayfinding in a heritage setting carries a tension that doesn’t exist elsewhere. The signage needs to be visible enough to be useful, durable enough to withstand years of public use, and clear enough to genuinely help visitors find their way. It also needs to sit quietly within an environment that predates it by decades, centuries, or longer.
Get that balance wrong and the signs become an intrusion – too bold, too modern, too obviously bolted on. Get it right and visitors barely notice the signage at all. They just find their way.
Heritage wayfinding is not a niche specialism that occasionally intersects with mainstream signage work. For us, it is one of the most consistent threads running through our project portfolio. We have delivered wayfinding and interpretation schemes at scheduled ancient monuments, Grade I and Grade II* listed buildings, registered historic parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and listed market halls. Each project has its own constraints. Each requires a genuinely different approach from the outset.
Why heritage settings are genuinely different
The challenges go well beyond aesthetics. Listed building consent may restrict where fixings can be placed and how they penetrate the fabric. Scheduled monument status imposes strict controls on groundworks. Conservation areas carry planning requirements that affect the scale, material and visual character of signage. SSSI designations can restrict the materials, installation methods and even the volume of physical signage permitted on site.
Then there is the bilingual dimension. In Wales, any public body subject to the Welsh Language Standards must ensure Welsh text appears above or to the left of English on every sign – positional precedence is a statutory requirement under Standards 62 and 142, not a design preference. For heritage institutions whose identity is bound up with Welsh language and culture, that requirement carries meaning well beyond compliance.
Finally, there is the question of narrative. Heritage wayfinding is not just navigation. It asks what story the place is telling, and whether the signage reinforces or undermines it. A copper wayfinding scheme in a former copper mining town communicates something different from a generic aluminium post-and-panel. Materials matter in heritage contexts in a way they rarely do elsewhere.
Cadw: wayfinding across 130 historic sites
The scale of the Cadw programme sets it apart from almost any other heritage signage contract in Wales. Appointed by Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, we delivered a complete signage replacement programme across their entire estate – 130 sites ranging from Chepstow Castle and Caernarfon Castle to smaller scheduled monuments and listed structures across the country.
The brief required the removal of an inconsistent legacy signage system and its replacement with a coherent scheme aligned to Cadw’s current brand standards. Every site required a physical survey before design commenced. All existing signage was then removed in a controlled manner, with particular care at scheduled monument locations to protect historic fabric. New sign types – including freestanding totem welcomes, wall-mounted interpretation panels and directional and advisory signage – were fixed into mortar joints rather than masonry where the building fabric required it, a method that allows removal without permanent damage.
Welsh Language Standards 61, 62 and 63 shaped every decision on panel sizing, typographic hierarchy and reading order across the full sign family. Sustainable and recycled materials were specified throughout, with an increasing proportion demonstrated over the contract term in line with Cadw’s environmental requirements.
Managing delivery across 130 geographically distributed sites, over a multi-year programme with phased rollout, required structured programme management from the outset. Monthly management information and six-monthly performance reviews with the Cadw team maintained visibility of progress across the estate throughout.
RELATED: Our Work with Cadw Across 130 Historic Sites
National Library of Wales: when the building is the brief
A single building can present constraints every bit as demanding as a multi-site estate. The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth is a Grade I listed Portland stone building – one of only six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom – and the existing wayfinding had evolved incrementally over time to a point where inconsistency and poor hierarchy made confident navigation genuinely difficult.
Our objective was a wayfinding scheme that felt like an extension of the building’s architecture rather than an applied layer. The material response was Portland stone: the same stone that defines the building’s character, used to create a sign family that integrates with its surroundings rather than contrasting with them. A consistent family of sign types was developed using Portland stone, 10mm toughened glass and a refined typographic hierarchy, with bespoke stone elements produced in collaboration with our sister company combining traditional stonemasonry with modern manufacturing.
Every fixing method required careful consideration to protect a listed fabric. The bilingual requirement added a further layer of design complexity – not only must Welsh appear positionally first throughout, but the Library’s identity as the foremost custodian of Welsh documentary heritage meant the treatment of the Welsh language had to reflect the institution’s values, not just meet a minimum statutory threshold.
Cyfarthfa Park: landscape, heritage and industrial memory
Cyfarthfa Park in Merthyr Tydfil presented a different kind of heritage setting: 160 acres of Grade II* registered parkland above the town, combining open green space, a historic castle, museum, lake, woodland trails and a programme of major public events. The existing wayfinding had become fragmented and inconsistent, with poor orientation, inaccessible routes and underused areas of the park.
We began with a comprehensive audit across the entire site – photographing, mapping and assessing every existing sign for condition, visibility, content and effectiveness, alongside stakeholder workshops, public consultation and user surveys. The findings informed a wayfinding strategy before any design work commenced.
The material approach drew directly from the site’s dual character: its natural landscape setting and its position within the ironmaking heritage of the Welsh valleys. Pennant stone bases, timber and subtle metal detailing were combined to create a sign family that references both the castle’s historic architecture and the area’s industrial past. Bespoke Pennant stone elements were produced in collaboration with our sister company, balancing heritage craftsmanship with modern manufacturing techniques.
A colour-coded route system, bespoke iconography and accessible design principles were introduced throughout, giving visitors a clear framework for navigation while encouraging exploration of the park’s diverse attractions and heritage assets.
CASE STUDY: Cyfarthfa Park Heritage Wayfinding Scheme
Amlwch: letting history determine the material
Amlwch on the north coast of Anglesey is defined by copper. Parys Mountain, which overlooks the town, was once one of the largest copper mines in the world, and the industry shaped the town’s economy, landscape and identity for generations. When Anglesey County Council commissioned a town-wide wayfinding scheme, the challenge was to create a navigation system linking the town’s key visitor destinations without imposing something that felt alien to the place.
The material decision that shaped the scheme was copper – not as decoration, but integrated using fabrication methods developed specifically for this project, making it structural and functional rather than cosmetic. The result is signage that carries the town’s industrial identity rather than referencing it superficially. Copper also ages in a way that tends to sit naturally in heritage environments: the patina that develops over time reads as belonging rather than as newly installed. Prototype reviews and fabrication sampling happened iteratively throughout the project, reflecting the care required when working with non-standard materials at a public installation scale.
Stover Country Park: when ecological sensitivity shapes every decision
Stover Country Park in Devon is a 114-acre Site of Special Scientific Interest – a designated Local Nature Reserve covering woodland, lake, marsh, heathland and grassland, and officially recognised as a dragonfly hotspot by the British Dragonfly Society. The wayfinding and interpretation scheme was delivered as part of a wider conservation programme that included desilting the lake, repairing the historic Gatehouse, and creating new footpaths.
In a protected landscape, the volume and character of physical signage is itself a design consideration. Too many signs, or signs made from inappropriate materials, and the scheme becomes part of the problem it is trying to solve. The specification centred on FSC-certified oak structures and EcoDura recycled panels – a material manufactured from recycled plastic waste that performs well outdoors, requires minimal maintenance, and avoids chemical treatments that would be problematic in an SSSI context.
Fixing points were considered individually against their ecological impact. Every sign location was assessed to avoid protected habitats while maintaining clear sightlines. A companion app was developed alongside the physical scheme, deliberately reducing the volume of on-site signage by extending the interpretation into a digital layer – fewer signs, less visual impact, and a richer experience for visitors who want more depth than a fixed panel can provide.
CASE STUDY: Stover Country Park Interpretation Signage and Wayfinding on an SSSI Site
What these projects have in common
Across all of these projects, a few consistent principles emerge.
Research before design is not optional. In every case, detailed survey work – site surveys, audit programmes, user journey analysis, stakeholder consultation – preceded any design decisions. Material choices, fixing strategies and sign placement all came out of understanding the specific constraints and character of each site. Generic solutions applied to heritage contexts tend to fail at planning or look wrong in use.
Materials communicate. What a sign is made of says something about the place it occupies. Copper in Amlwch references industrial history. Portland stone at the National Library reflects the building’s own fabric. Pennant stone at Cyfarthfa connects to the valley’s geology and architectural heritage. FSC oak and recycled panels at Stover reflect the conservation purpose of the site. These are not decorative choices – they are part of the design intent.
Fixing strategy is design strategy. In listed buildings and at scheduled monuments, how a sign is attached to a surface is as important as how it looks. Every penetration, every anchor point, every surface treatment requires consideration. This demands close collaboration with clients, conservation officers and planning departments from an early stage.
Digital can reduce physical impact. The Stover app demonstrates a principle with wider application. Where SSSI or conservation designations limit the volume or scale of physical signage, a complementary digital layer can carry the interpretation load without adding more objects to the landscape.
Complexity requires programme management. The Cadw estate – 130 sites, multi-year delivery, phased rollout across scheduled monuments and listed buildings – required structured management throughout. Heritage projects rarely deliver themselves. The logistics of survey, design approval, manufacture and installation across sensitive sites need the same discipline as any complex construction programme.
Working in complex environments
Heritage and conservation settings reward suppliers who treat the constraints as design inputs rather than obstacles. The planning requirements, ecological sensitivities, material restrictions and bilingual obligations shape what a scheme becomes – and schemes that engage with them properly tend to be better for it.
We have delivered wayfinding and interpretation across scheduled ancient monuments, Grade I and II* listed buildings, registered historic parks, SSSIs and listed market halls. If you are planning a scheme for a heritage or conservation setting, we would welcome a conversation about the specific constraints you are working with.
