brief: Interior design for a security showroom

What is the essence of a brand? This question lay at the heart of a challenging brief set by Banham Security, a leading company in burglary prevention. Established in 1926 by William F. Banham, inventor of the Banham patent lock, the company has steadily expanded to cover most aspects of home and business security.

The strength of the Banham brand lies in the quality of its products, its history and the fact that it is a family business with family values underpinning all its activities. However, the overtly traditional focus of its existing showrooms risked giving the impression that the business was stuck in the past, despite the fact that leading edge technology is integral to its innovative intruder detection, alarm, and CCTV systems.

How Design CLD responded to the challenge

Design CLD were tasked with improving the presentation of the company, its brand, products and services by redesigning Banham’s high street outlets.

We started by addressing the window display. The need to communicate a wide range of offers had led to an untidy shop front suffering from a proliferation of window decals. We removed the need for these by replacing them with a digital signage system incorporating eye-catching video and graphics.

To drive footfall, it was essential that the key cutting service was effectively communicated; we did this with the development of a projecting sign based on the shape of Banham’s uniquely shaped key. The key counter was then set in a showroom quality environment that gave sales staff the opportunity to promote the wide range of premium security services on offer.

The showroom itself was organised into a series of interactive demonstration zones dedicated to each of the core activities of the business.

After the re-design:

Top: an eye catching free standing digital signage system has replaced much of the clutter in the original shop window. It manages to communicate a great deal in a small space. As a result passers by have much better vision into the showroom where striking vertical banners clearly show the range of products and services on offer.

Below: the new key cutting desk is clearly identified and echoes the solid, professional and reliable feel of the rest of the showroom.

The end results

Throughout the project we focused on developing a look and feel that reflected the modern technology behind the company without compromising its brand heritage. This involved reworking the company logo, creating a new strap line “protect your property” and finding novel ways to present the business and it's products and services. Our approach was always to identify and enhance the essential elements of the brand while simplifying or removing distractions.

The client's reaction to the re-designed showroom:

"The shop has done so well and we have had so much positive feedback. Our turnover has significantly increased and we think the refurb is obviously a huge factor." Lucie Banham, December 2010.

> Find out more about Banham Security on their web site: banham.co.uk