Sign Install in Western Canada Announces a New Landmark

Sign Install in Western Canada Announces a New Landmark
闪耀在加拿大西部天空的Civic酒店标识

“We don’t just want to build you a sign, we want to help elevate your brand,” proclaims TDH Experiential Fabricators of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, outlining its focus on its Web site.
“不仅是为您的建筑设计标识，我们更希望的是能够帮助您提升品牌价值。”加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省萨里市的TDH Experiential Fabricators在他们的网站上说出了这句话。

In a telling demonstration of that commitment, TDH recently crowned the new Civic Hotel in downtown Surrey, a satellite municipality of Vancouver, British Columbia, with letters, logos, and LEDs.
TDH最近在为温哥华的一个卫星城市——萨里市中心新建的Civic酒店设计发光字标识、徽标和LED光源，这将是他们兑现承诺的有力证明。

From 520 feet above street level, matching signs on the tower’s north and south faces announce the multi-use hotel/residential/education complex to the surrounding area as a new local landmark. In fact, these signs have been cited as the highest signage in Western Canada.
酒店距离地面520英尺处，塔楼南北两侧的标志相互映衬，展示着这个集酒店、住宅、教育中心为一体的多功能建筑作为当地新地标的优势。事实上，酒店建筑上面安装的标识被认为是加拿大西部安装位置最高的标识。

TDH also created twenty-seven other illuminated signs for the exterior of the building. “We designed the sign package to serve the hotel, the staple tenant KPU (Kwantlen Polytechnic University), and multiple other tenants,” says Troy Hibbs, managing partner and project coordinator at TDH Experiential.
TDH还为建筑外部设计制作了27个其他的照明标识。TDH Experiential的管理合伙人兼项目协调员Troy Hibbs说：“由于这个酒店大部分的租户都是由KPU（昆特兰理工大学）和其他一些租户组成，因此我们借此为酒店设计的一系列标识包装。”

An Iconic Addition to the Landscape
标志性的景观标识
“It was always part of our vision to make this building an icon for Surrey as the high-tech center of British Columbia,” says David Laulainem, spokesman for Century Group, specialists in multi-use facilities and the developers of the complex now known as 3 Civic Plaza. “TDH brought the expertise to make our vision work.”
世纪集团的发言人David Laulainem曾凭借Civic购物中心的综合设施开发商而出名，他是多用途设施建筑方面的一名专家，他说：“我们的目标始终是使这座建筑成为不列颠哥伦比亚省萨里市的高科技中心的标志性建筑之一，TDH所拥有和提供的专业知识能够使我们的目标成为现实。”

By the time TDH was contacted in October of 2016, construction was well underway. “Ideally we like to be brought in as early as possible on new building projects, but the tower was already halfway up,” says Hibbs. “While their plans called for different types of signs throughout the facility, they had not planned for attachments we needed, especially for some of the larger signs they wanted on the lower sides of the building where there was a lot of glass.”
他们是在2016年10月联系的TDH，那时候施工正在顺利进行中。希布斯说：“理想情况下，我们希望尽早引入新的建筑项目，但大楼的建设毕竟不能半途而废，虽然他们的计划是要求在整个设施中使用不同类型的标识，但他们没有将我们需要的零件列入计划中，尤其是他们还想要在建筑物下部有大量玻璃的地方安装一些大型标识。”

Fortunately they still had time to adapt and plan for the formidable installation at the top of the tower, which took immediate priority. “The sign itself is pretty basic—channel letters and LEDs—but we did have to make sure from then on the contractors installed the conduit we needed to power the sign,” says Hibbs.
幸运的是，他们仍然有充裕的时间可以来调整计划以适应大楼顶部的繁重安装任务，这是当务之急。Hibbs说：“虽然标识本身就是由非常基本的槽形发光字和LED光源组成，但是我们必须确保承包商安装了我们需要的管道来为这个标识供电。”

The TDH design process for the Civic Hotel signage.
TDH针对Civic酒店绘制的标识设计图。

Realizing the Vision
愿望实现
As part of its design process, TDH conducted a visibility study to ensure the sign, as planned, would realize the Century Group’s goals of making it a beacon for the building and downtown.
在进行设计的过程中，TDH进行了一次可见性研究，以确保所设计的标识能够实现世纪集团的目标，使这个建筑物能够在市中心永葆闪耀。

The channel letters and logo were designed and built for optimum day and nighttime visibility with white sign faces and charcoal returns, illuminated by peel-and-stick Hanley LEDs. “We added a bead of clear silicone along each module, after inserting them,” says Hibbs.
使用白色材料制作标识表面和使用木炭色来制作标识的返回通道是为了使设计的槽形发光字和徽标在白天和夜晚都能够呈现出最佳视野，标识由剥离式Hanley LED光源进行照明。希布斯说：“在照明光源安装好之后，我们在每个模组上又多密封了一层透明的硅胶。”

Each element is ten inches deep with the letter-face composed of 4.5mm sign-white polycarbonate, backed with pure white 7000K LEDs.
每个标识深10英寸，标识表面由4.5毫米的白色聚碳酸酯制成，内部安装了纯白色的7000K LED光源进行照明。

The “Civic” letters were built six feet, seven inches tall for legibility up to three-quarters of a kilometer away. The smaller “hotel” letters are three feet, four inches high and legible up to half a kilometer away. The facility’s distinctive diamond logo, which doubles as the “v” in Civic, was designed as the sign’s most visible element, standing nearly thirteen feet tall and easily discerned 1.5 kilometers away.Once the tower sign was approved, TDH started designing for the rest of the package. By the end of February, all elements for the tower sign were built.
这个6英尺高7英寸深的“Civic”字样标识被悬挂在酒店的高墙上，即使距离四分之三公里远也能够清晰可见。“hotel”字样的标识尺寸较小，高3英尺深4英寸，在半公里之外同样清晰可见。该酒店的徽标有一个独特的钻石标志，由Civic中的“v”字样改造而成，这个设计是该标识的特色所在，高13英尺，在1.5公里的范围内清晰可见。一旦该建筑标识能够获得批准，TDH就会开始设计其他的标识包装。到2月底，与该建筑所有相关的标识元素都已完成制作。

“But we knew the biggest challenge was going to be the install,” says Hibbs.
希布斯说：“但更大的安装挑战还在等待着我们。”

Partnering with Expert Installers
与专业的安装人员合作
For the install, the company solicited the expertise of Tops Lighting, Vancouver-based specialists in difficult sign installations. “We do all the big installs on high rises in and around Vancouver, but we’ve never done one that high before,” says Kris Voros, shop supervisor at Tops Lighting. “It wasn’t an issue for us as far as the installation goes.”
为了完善安装工作，该公司向温哥华Tops Lighting公司就复杂标识安装方面的专业知识进行了一些咨询。Tops Lighting的店主Kris Voros说：“我们在温哥华及周边地区的高层建筑标识安装实践中拥有一系列的丰富经验，但我们之前从未进行过这种高度的安装工作。但是就安装而言，这对于我们来说不是问题。”

“Because of the height, we had to have special 600-foot fall ropes and wire cables built for our swing stage. And since the sign was being installed more than 400 feet above ground, we had to have special variances and permits. All of that took time.”
“由于高度的原因，我们必须为我们的吊车配备专用的600英尺降落绳和钢丝绳。由于标识将安装在距离地面约400英尺的地方，因此我们必须申请特殊安装许可证。所有这一切都需要时间来安排。”

The actual installation took place over two weeks with each side requiring two days for the setup and install. Weather and the work of other trades completing their parts of the project played a major factor in determining when the work could actually take place, notes Hibbs.
因为每一方都需要两天的时间进行安排和安装，所以实际的安装工作进行了两周。Hibbs指出，天气因素和各个部门需要完成的具体工作内容是影响总工作量实际完成时间的主要因素。

“Our original plans called for using the crane onsite to hoist all elements into place, but it wasn’t available when needed for the final install,” says Hibbs.
Hibbs说：“我们最初的计划是需要在现场使用起重机将所有的标识零件提升到安装的指定位置，但在最终安装时机器出了故障无法使用。”

A custom-engineered winch was rented to hoist the letters to the top of the building.
租用专用的建筑吊车将标识提升到建筑物的顶部。

In mid-August of 2017, when it was available, the main diamond logo and all letters for the south side of the building were hoisted partway up with the crane and secured in place until the install could be scheduled.
等到2017年8月中旬，吊车恢复正常，主要的钻石徽标和酒店南侧所有的标识都使用起重机吊车将其提升到预定的位置进行固定，等待真正的安装。

In October, a custom-engineered winch was rented to hoist the letters to the top of the building, which were then lowered from the roof to the crew in the swing stage.
10月，他们租用了专业的建筑吊车将标识提升到了建筑物的顶部，然后将标识从屋顶处下降到安装人员所在的位置。

“The signs’ largest element on the north elevation—the diamond-shaped logo—was hoisted by the winch, while the crew in the swing stage travelled up the 525-foot-high wall at the same time as this logo, helping to stabilize it,” says Hibbs. “For the south side, the logo was hoisted from the twenty-fifth floor, where the logo was previously placed for storage by the site crane in mid-August.”
希布斯说：“预定安装在酒店高楼北面的最大标识（菱形徽标）被吊车吊起，而站在摇摆电梯上的安装人员也在这个标识被吊起的同时沿着525英尺高的墙壁行进，来帮助稳定标识。在建筑的南面，标识从25楼处被吊起，这个标识在8月中旬已经由起重机固定完成并等待安装。”

With all that was involved, Hibbs admits some anxiety as the project entered its critical final phase. “I knew if something was wrong or didn’t fit or there were any mistakes, we were on the hook. There were a lot of special costs,” he says.
随着所有这一切的顺利进行，Hibbs在项目进入关键的最后阶段时承认他有一些焦虑。他说：“我知道如果出现问题或有任何错误出现，就会增加安装成本，我们也会随之陷入困境。”

The installation posed so many special considerations with so many variables, the entire sign was designed to minimize potential headaches in the future.
在最初进行标识设计时，正是为了在未来最大程度地减少潜在的问题，因此才对如此多的未知变量提出了许多需要考虑的地方。

“We actually built a second set of LEDs into the letters and logo order to extend the life of the sign without having to go over the edge and remove the faces,” says Hibbs. “Whenever the first set burns out, it will just be a matter of simply switching over the wires to activate a new set of LEDs without the need to move all that equipment into place.”
Hibbs说：“我们实际上在标识和徽标中安装了备用的LED光源，以延长标识的使用寿命，而不用揭开标识表面对内部的光源模组进行更换，万一第一组的LED光源烧坏，那么只需要简单地对电源进行更换就可以激活备用LED光源进行工作，无需对所有的设备进行移动。”

TDH also created twenty-seven other illuminated signs for the exterior of the building.
TDH还为建筑外部设计制作了27个其他照明标识。

Conclusion
最终的结果
When the sign switched on this April, the day after the hotel officially opened, all could take pride in a job well done.
今年四月，即酒店正式开业后的第二天，标识正式开始运作，所有人都为这个标识能够正常运作而感到自豪。

For TDH and Tops Lighting, the new Civic Hotel signs stand as a tall testament to their specialized expertise in sign design, fabrication, and installation. For Century Group, as intended, the tower and sign symbolize the facility as well as downtown Surrey and its aspirations to prosper as a tech center.
对于TDH和Tops Lighting来说，Civic 酒店标识的正式落成证明了他们在标识设计、制作和安装方面的专业性。对于世纪集团来说，酒店高楼和标识的完成则代表着萨里市中心成为科技繁荣中心的美好愿望。

“We’re very pleased with all the attention to detail that TDH provided,” says Laulainem. “From what we see on social media, the entire community is embracing [the signage].”
Laulainem说：“我们对TDH设计的所有标识细节都非常满意，从我们在社交媒体上获取到的信息来看，整个社会都对这个标识表现出了极大的包容性。”