Applying Universal Design to Enhance Intuitiveness and Recognizability

Hillstate Unveils Wayfinding Design That Adds 'Beautiful Consideration'

Hyundai E&C is further differentiating Hillstate's signature design with warm design for everyone.

Hyundai E&C announced that it has completed development of 'Here & Somewhere,' which aids wayfinding by enhancing the intuitiveness and recognizability of information, and plans to apply it sequentially to Hillstate underground parking garages starting next year.

'Here & Somewhere,' developed by Hyundai E&C, is characterized by combining Universal Design (UD)—which helps anyone easily and clearly understand information regardless of gender, age, nationality, and so on—with the functions of a Wayfinding System (WS) that guides users within a specific area.

Hyundai E&C's Universal Design Wayfinding System uses color schemes that are easy for people with color vision deficiency to distinguish according to the importance of information, and it considers even the intuitiveness of those with presbyopia or low vision through fonts with enhanced readability and legibility. In addition, recognizability has been reinforced so that children who cannot yet read or foreigners can directly understand information through a variety of pictograms.

To this end, Hyundai E&C signed a business agreement with KCC, which has competitiveness in the color field, and applied a typeface developed by the Korea Disabled People's Development Institute, thereby strengthening its UD expertise. Hyundai E&C is the first among domestic construction companies to introduce the UD concept across overall design—not only color design but also typefaces and pictograms—into the underground parking garages of multi-unit housing.

When 'Here & Somewhere' is applied to dark, low-visibility underground parking spaces, it not only provides residents—who become confused by repetitive columns and mixed information—with information to recognize their location and with mobility convenience, but can also be expected to help prevent everyday safety accidents through emergency bells, fire hydrants, and other features that use safety color schemes.

A Hyundai E&C official said, "Amid accelerating social changes such as aging and multi-ethnic populations, we hope that 'Here & Somewhere' will help diverse residents live comfortably and safely," adding, "Hyundai E&C will continue to strive to provide a sustainable lifestyle through meticulous services that consider all Hillstate residents, including people with color vision deficiency, foreigners, and the elderly and infirm."

Meanwhile, Hyundai E&C's public housing business is proving its global design competitiveness through numerous awards at the world's three major design awards—IDEA, iF, and the Red Dot Design Award. Recently, at the U.S. 'Green Good Design Award 2024,' it was selected for the second consecutive year in the 'Green Product, Graphic Design, and Packaging category'—a first among domestic construction companies—for the 'H Eye Planter,' a landscaping structure using 3D printing and eco-friendly technology, and it is striving to provide customers with differentiated residential value through sustainable design.

▲ Image of the Universal Design Wayfinding System in application