New Waverley - P4P Creative

The Name

Being located immediately adjacent to the Royal Mile and Waverley Station, which took its name from Sir Walter Scott’s renowned Waverley novels, we chose the name New Waverley. The site also lies in the Waverley Valley, another reason why the choice was thought to be relevant and appropriate.

The Brand

The brief was to create a sophisticated and refined brand worthy of the development’s outstanding location within a UNESCO World Heritage site.

This was answered with the creation of a modern crest consisting of individual strands that intertwine to create one cohesive marque, reflecting the mixed-use elements of New Waverley.

The final brand recognises the historical nature of the location, while the modern treatment delivers a contemporary aesthetic for it’s future.

Iconography

In addition to the main marque, a set of icons was created for the specific areas within New Waverley. Each was designed using elements of the main brand to ensure a visual consistency across the entire project.

These specific areas were visualised with a caduceus - the Greek symbol for commerce - a heart, an unwinding coil and an abstract letter 'S'.

The development comprises a mixture of retail, office, residential, hotel and leisure, creating not only a vibrant place to live, work, stay and relax but a destination in its own right.

Prior to Artisan’s involvement the site had been the subject of considerable controversy, so the challenge was to deliver a brand that people would embrace and a marketing campaign that would change negative perceptions and present New Waverley in a positive light.

New Waverley - Conceptual Work

Brochures

A family of high specification brochures was created promoting the various elements of the development including retail and office space.

Launch Event

Given its close proximity to New Waverley, the prestigious Balmoral Hotel was chosen for the launch event, which was well attended by Edinburgh’s great and good. Guests were presented with a branded designer goodie bag containing the overarching brochure and a selection of tasty treats from some of New Waverley’s neighbouring businesses, Pinnies and Poppy Seeds, The Fudge House and Mimi's Bakehouse.

Lukas Nakos - Managing Director, Artisan

Branded Taxis

A fleet of Edinburgh taxis was liveried with the New Waverley brand to help raise the profile of the new destination. The fleet is still on the go and can be seen to this day driving around the city spreading the word.

UK's Largest Poem on the Royal Mile

This massive banner featured the winning entry in a competition that was part of the ‘Big Words’ project, a unique collaboration between the Scottish Poetry Library and Edinburgh’s New Waverley development. The poem was printed onto a huge scaffolding banner that covered the façade of the historic Sailor’s Ark building that is now home to the Adagio Aparthotel.

"From the spin of the wheel
comes a spiral
threading itself
up through the vessel
until it reaches the rim
where this twist in the clay
slips into air
then travels on invisibility
beyond the turning earth
and up into the whirling stars"

Elizabeth Burns
1957 - 2015

Pre-Completion Website

To coincide with the launch of the New Waverley site, we were assigned the task of designing and building a pre-completion website to help grow a digital presence for the project while marketing the opportunities to potential investors/interested parties and inform the public about this vibrant and exciting new destination.

The Arches

A unique feature of New Waverley is The Arches, 19 newly renovated Victorian arches on East Market Street, home to an eclectic mix of independent retailers, cafés and restaurants.

A range of printed material was produced to promote the opportunities in this historic setting. In September 2016 The Arches was awarded the coveted “Commercial Project of the Year” title in the annual Herald Property Awards for Scotland.

Arches Murals

Prior to the East Market Street arches being transformed into a collection of artisanal shops, they were home to a street art project featuring a range of impressive murals.

New Waverley Arches GrafJam

Edinburgh's Newest Shopping Destination

The newly renovated, spectacular C-listed stone arches provide a high profile gateway into the New Waverley development and transform a formerly neglected part of Edinburgh into a vibrant leisure and commercial quarter in the heart of the Old Town.

Advertising

With construction at New Waverley rapidly moving ahead and various retail, restaurant and hotel openings taking place, December 2016 offered the first opportunity to promote the entire development as a must visit destination. A series of magazine advertisements appeared in The Skinny, i-on, Foodies, Capital and The List, where the Christmas edition was sponsored by New Waverley.

The Arches advertising

New Waverley Office Development

We were thrilled to hear that New Waverley is soon to be home to over 2,900 staff that will occupy HMRC’s new offices - another major sucess story in the development of this exciting new destination.

Sibbald Walk

Sibbald Walk was the name chosen for the square at the heart of New Waverley. It was named after Sir Robert Sibbald who, along with fellow physician Dr Andrew Balfour, set up Edinburgh’s first botanic garden in 1670, on a short strip of land adjacent to Holyrood Palace.

The hoardings surrounding Sibbald Walk feature Terry Gilliam’s neon celebration of his favourite book, Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, which formed part of the Words on the Street campaign that was run by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, celebrating the power of great books and Edinburgh’s strength as a centre for books and publishing.

Additionally the hoardings promoted businesses that had already located to New Waverley, gave an indication of what was still to come and carried the neon sign that we had been invited to create for the Food & Flea Market that arrived at New Waverley at the beginning of 2017.