Addison Lee is London’s largest, most trusted one-stop shop for private hire, black taxi and courier services. They offer their clients and customers a market-leading combination of proprietary technology, experienced people and London’s largest owned fleet. With a hard-won reputation for being the best in class, Addison Lee’s premises need to reflect the company values and industry-revolutionising ethos.
Addison Lee runs an innovative fleet of ULEZ-compliant and electric vehicles and has pledged to be fully electric by 2023. Addison Lee came to Aura for architectural branding across two premises that needed updating to a more modern style while keeping in touch with over 45 years of heritage in the Capital.
Having previously worked with Addison Lee when rebranding its fleet of 5,000+ private hire vehicles and courier vans and implementing branding at its head office in 2016, Aura was its first port of call for this project. Already being familiar with the brand and style, and sharing mutual sustainability goals, Aura was delighted to be selected based on our proven experience and capacity to deliver.
Addison Lee had two premises that required new branding – the head office, and a second office used for driver training and meetings. After completing an audit of the premises to identify areas that needed branding and discussing initial ideas, we suggested some improvements and provided designs. Our design team created visual mock-ups which persuaded the client that our suggestions would make the bold statement they required.
Our expert team of installers then removed the old branding and prepped the existing surfaces, ready for the application of the new designs. We never cut corners and thorough prep work is essential for achieving a flawless result in every project we undertake.
Much of the project concerned exterior bespoke and road signage to make the buildings instantly recognisable. Due to this, planning was required from the local council, which Aura petitioned for and organised on behalf of Addison Lee. This included a three-metre-high illuminated totem incorporating cost-effective solutions, such as a dark background to make the illuminated information really stand out.
Addison Lee wanted its new branding to tell its story and incorporate its rich history into the display for visitors. With this in mind, large-scale A-Z maps were transformed into wall graphics highlighting iconic landmarks, wayfinding was designed in the style of traditional embossed London street signs, and custom branded glass manifestations were created.
The exterior building signage was designed to have maximum impact and used striking individual illuminated letters which our installers integrated into the building’s lighting system for a fuss-free solution. An exterior illuminated signage totem added the final touch and made sure the office could be clearly located day and night.
The project was a huge success with Aura managing and implementing everything, leading to a variety of branding elements all integrated to work in harmony. The end result is a fully cohesive brand experience for visitors and employees alike.
