Wayfinding and Wi-Fi make navigating the city easy

A new pilot wayfinding scheme has launched in the city centre comprising of 12 newly designed and branded City of Stories totems.

Delivered by Norwich Business Improvement District in partnership with Norwich City Council the pre-existing infrastructure has been redesigned to fit a new image for the city centre.

The 12 newly designed directional totems are located across the city centre, from outside St Peter Mancroft and The Assembly House, to Dragon Hall on King street.

Each totem is colour co-ordinated to match city centre districts and features directional content, immediate location information, 3D buildings and icons, accessible fonts and designs, as well as heritage information on the surrounding district.

As a creative and leading tech city, it’s no surprise that the new totems are piloting QR and Near File Communication (NFC) technology, supplied by local company, Thyngs.  The technology will link through to the newly-launched VisitNorwich website (visitnorwich.co.uk), which will showcase more content on the surrounding area, including events, businesses and attractions.

Two years in the making, the scheme has worked extensively with the local businesses, specific interest groups and the wider community to ensure the scheme meets DDA compliance and learns the lessons from some of the national best examples of wayfinding.

To compliment the new wayfinding initiative, the Norwich BID have also doubled the area of the open guest free wi-fi network in the city centre.  Available 24/7 the network is live throughout the main city centre, from Chapelfield Gardens to Norwich Castle, London Street and the Lanes and covering St Andrew’s, Surrey Street and Prince of Wales Road.

The free city centre wi-fi makes it easy for visitors to surf with ease and stay connected.  The free network offers speeds of up to 5Mbps, bringing a truly connected experience to city centre users.

It’s easy to get connected, in Wi-Fi settings select ‘Free-Wifi-NorwichBID‘. Registration is available through two options (Facebook and registration form).  Registration is only required once; afterwards the device will automatically connect to the free Wi-Fi whenever it is in range (if set up on the phone)

Stefan Gurney, Executive Director at the BID said, “We are proud to unveil the amazing new look totems with integrated NFC technology. The new look ties in with our recent City of Stories rebrand and unifies the city with its clear colour coded districts in the city.”

We are also pleased to offer extended wi-fi coverage across the city centre, increasing and enhancing the visitor and user experience whilst in the city”.

Story by Rachael Fretter [email protected]