Tom Hingston Studio has created the brand strategy, graphic identity, website and print collateral for Manhattan Loft Gardens, an ambitious high rise development by Manhattan Loft Corporation currently under construction in Stratford, East London…

The 42 storey residential tower designed by architects SOM will boast living accommodation, a design hotel and three ‘sky gardens’, one on the 7th floor, a second on the 35th and a third on the 36th floor. It’s due to be completed in 2016. This ‘fly-through’ video introduces the architectural concept for the building:

In terms of the project’s main identity (shown, top), Hingston says his team took inspiration from the building’s double cantilevered design.

“Looking at early drawings and renders from architects SOM revealed that the construction of the tower was made up of modular parts,” he explains, “if one was to view the building from above then it would appear as a composition of four triangles. We were keen to echo this geometry in the mark and so the 42 storeys are expressed through a sequence of triangular lines which grow vertically upwards. The final form also suggests the notion of connectivity.”

The form and style of the mark also informed a series of illustrations created to represent different aspects of the tower which each has its own area of the website, such as living spaces:

the design hotel:

Sky gardens:

and Stratford City:

Here are some screenshots from the website:

A colour palette was developed inspired by the building’s features of green spaces and open skies. “These elements established the building blocks for a broader graphic language which was carried through to all aspects of the project,” says Hingston, “from the brochure (images below), to the hoardings, to the website design and also moving image content.”

“Extending this language into animations on the site has enabled us to be more playful and engaging in the way that we communicated, for example, what was a somewhat overwhelming amount of information about transportation links and connectivity to the Stratford area,” says Hingston of this particular film, created for the website in collaboration with sound designer The Mighty Low:

Find out more about the project by visiting the Manhattan Loft Gardens site

Congratulations to Tom Hingston Studio for winning this week’s award.

‘Agency of the week’ is a weekly award from Traffic LIVE to give praise to design agencies who really are – ‘Doing Different’.The award could celebrate the companies career or a specific project. This award is bound by new rules and is awarded to those companies who shine in their industry for their skill, hard work and spirit.
Think you got what it takes? Email awards@trafficlive.com