Karo will show the way for BAA

The British Airport Authority, the international airport group and owner and operator of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, has appointed Toronto-based multidisciplinary design group Karo as its wayfinding and information consultancy. It is the first appointment of its kind by BAA.

Karo leads a consortium that includes Vancouver architect Architectura Planning Architecture, Interiors; US airport design specialist Muhlhausen Design and Associates and Reich and Petch Design International.

The group will help develop and improve the wayfinding environment and the delivery of information within BAA’s airports. Work on a wayfinding project for the proposed Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport is already underway.

Any work will range from strategic planning and input to architectural concepts, through to the planning and specification of signing and all other passenger information systems.

Mike Wolff, group wayfinding manager at BAA, believes the challenge to create simple, legible environments for the 100m passengers using BAA airports each year presents a major challenge, one that will be further tested by the proposed introduction of a fifth terminal at Heathrow later this decade.

“A professional approach to wayfinding is fundamental to good customer service,” he says.