This autumn has seen the launch of The Lexicon Bracknell, the new identity for the 580,000 sq ft retail and leisure destination in the heart of Bracknell Town Centre.
The Bracknell Regeneration Partnership, a joint venture between Legal & General Capital and Schroder UK Real Estate Fund, working in partnership with Bracknell Forest Council is behind the development.
The £240m regeneration will provide a new social and cultural hub for the area, by bringing a high-quality mix of shops, restaurants and entertainment within vibrant public spaces to Bracknell Town Centre. The identity, which was created by Portland Design, encapsulates the brand positioning and research that identified what people in the catchment wanted from a new town centre shopping destination. It reflects strong preferences for a new vision for quality retail and leisure in Bracknell, from welcoming, curvilinear environments and soft spaces to more aspirational retail offers, alongside enhanced opportunities for social engagement: Shopping as it should be. The allusions to language through usage of the term ‘Lexicon’ and the visual punctuation elements are a reminder that the new development will invite interaction and conversation.
Its logo style expresses ‘connected community’, the essence of the brand positioning, using the speech mark device. The grammar symbols suggest conversation amplification and congeniality, with the experience giving people something great to talk about. The strapline, ‘Life as it should be’, returns to the residents of Bracknell a town centre that they deserve; a dynamic shopping and leisure destination that brings together people, places brands and experiences. A refined colour palette of Chartreuse and Aubergine shades draw inspiration from surrounding forests and reflect the personality of fresh, natural and welcoming.
Portland Design has applied the identity to all marketing collateral that promotes the destination to the public and the businesses targeted to occupy the 60 retail units and restaurant spaces. The marketing materials include websites, an on-site marketing suite, B2B and B2C invitations, newsletters, brochures, a video and 2.4km of hoardings across the town centre.
The scheme’s building contractor Mace has already demolished parts of the existing town centre and the building work will be completed in spring 2017. Anchored by Waitrose, a number of major retailers that have signed leases to date, including Next, M&S, Fenwick (its first new store in 14 years), River Island, Primark, Topshop and Topman. In addition a 12-screen Cineworld Cinema and restaurants including Carluccio’s, Pizza Express, Wagamama and Nando’s have signed leases.
Christine Dunmore, director of branding at Portland Design said: “A newly invigorated Bracknell town centre will act as a magnet to attract those previously dissatisfied with what it offered. In reinventing itself, Bracknell needs to explain what makes it different to the other regional hubs that had drawn people away because they better reflect the aspirations of a notably discerning population. ‘The Lexicon, Bracknell’ and the associated elements of its identity convey perfectly what we found was a prime desire among residents, namely for a vibrant, connected place where people can socialise and have shared experiences whilst enjoying the best of what retail and restaurants have to offer.”
