A sensitive, ambitious and profoundly human project, designed to meet a double challenge: to facilitate the identification of people with disabilities while creating an environment of well-being, attractive and meaningful.
Through this project, we have transformed the entire building into a travel experience around the world :
5 floors, 5 continents, 5 distinct graphic universes but linked by the same artistic writing.
A medico-social establishment designed as a place to live
The Maison Benjamin is not only a place of medico-social support.
It is a place of life, care, learning, relationships, passage and long time.
The people welcomed – children, teenagers or adults with disabilities – as well as families, educators and professionals circulate there daily.
In this context, signage cannot be only functional.
It must be:
- readable immediately,
- reassuring,
- non-anxiety-provoking,
- inclusive,
- adapted to a variety of cognitive and sensory abilities,
- and a bearer of poetry and emotion.
It is with this in mind that we imagined artistic signage, designed from the outset as an orientation tool, but also as a support for well-being and imagination.
The concept: 5 floors, 5 continents, a journey accessible to all
The common thread of the project is based on a simple, universal and positive metaphor: the journey around the world.
Each floor of the building corresponds to a continent, immediately identifiable thanks to:
- a dedicated color palette,
- a specific graphic universe,
- emblematic illustrations (landscapes, animals, vegetation, cultural symbols),
- total coherence between walls, doors, plans and signage.
This choice meets several essential objectives:
- facilitate spatial identification without relying solely on text,
- promote memorization through images and color,
- give a clear identity to each level,
- stimulate curiosity and imagination,
- Turning daily commutes into positive experiences.
You don’t “go up to the 2nd floor”, you go to Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania or America.
Hand-drawn murals, unique and sensitive
All the wall decorations have been made in the form of hand-drawn frescoes, in line, according to our artisanal and artistic approach.
Each fresco is:
- unique,
- not repeated,
- adapted to the exact architecture of the place,
- Designed to dialogue with light, volumes and uses.
The line, deliberately legible and uncluttered, allows an immediate understanding of the shapes without visual overload.
The illustrations are accessible, never caricatured or infantilizing, in order to respect all the people welcomed, whatever their age and autonomy.
The frescoes depict:
- stylized landscapes,
- recognizable natural elements,
- emblematic animals,
- soft and enveloping shapes,
- reassuring and harmonious compositions.
Each continent thus becomes an emotional landmark as well as a spatial landmark.
Signage designed for fluidity, simplicity and accessibility
Maison Benjamin’s signage has been designed as a global, coherent and intuitive system, integrating:
- illustrated floor plans,
- directional wall signage,
- door markings,
- personalised PRM pictograms,
- window stickers on glass doors,
- a clear hierarchy of information.
Each element recalls the graphic universe of the floor, so that orientation is done by visual association, and not only by reading.
Illustrated floor plans
Placed at strategic points, they make it possible to:
- a quick understanding of the organization of spaces,
- anticipation of travel,
- a reduction in anxiety related to the loss of bearings.
Directional signage
It is voluntarily:
- simple,
- contrasting,
- positioned at accessible height,
- understandable by all.
Arrows, pictograms and texts are always associated with the colour and symbol of the continent.
Door markings
Each door is identified by:
- a clear pictogram,
- an illustration related to the floor,
- a graphic treatment consistent with the mural.
Window stickers on glass doors
On the glass doors, we have installed a window sticker made of frosted film, meeting PMR standards:
- visual safety,
- readability,
- graphic continuity,
- absence of visual aggressiveness.
Full compliance with accessibility standards… and far beyond
All of our intervention complies with all the standards related to the law on PRM accessibility :
- visual contrasts,
- regulatory heights,
- readability of information,
- safety on glass surfaces,
- universal understanding.
But our approach goes beyond the norm.
We have sought to create a sensitive accessibility, which is not limited to ticking regulatory boxes, but which really takes into account:
- cognitive impairment,
- difficulties in locating
- hypersensitivities,
- reinsurance needs.
Signage thus becomes a tool of comfort and dignity, designed to simplify everyone’s daily life.
Well-being as the common thread of the project
Each graphic choice was guided by a central question:
Does this image reassure, soothe, value and make you want to move forward?
The colours were selected for:
- be identifiable without being aggressive,
- promote calming,
- create warm atmospheres,
- avoid sensory overload.
The illustrations tell open stories, leaving room for imagination, discussion, projection.
The corridors, often perceived as simple places of passage, become spaces for breathing, discovery and sometimes even educational mediation.
A more attractive establishment, for today and tomorrow
One of the challenges of the project was also to strengthen the attractiveness of Maison Benjamin, both in terms of:
- the people being accompanied,
- families,
- professionals,
- future employees.
Thanks to these wall decorations and this artistic signage:
- the establishment gains in identity,
- the environment becomes warmer and more rewarding,
- the teams evolve in a more pleasant environment,
- Visitors immediately feel the care given to the place.
The wall art here becomes a tool of recognition, a strong signal showing that the establishment takes care of people down to the details of the space.
A collective and evolving work
Finally, this project has been designed as a base, a strong graphic base, leaving the possibility for children and adults accompanied by:
- take ownership of the spaces,
- comment on the frescoes,
- enrich them with their looks,
- create a link around the images.
The Maison Benjamin becomes a place where you don’t suffer from space, but where you live fully.
A wall-mounted journey to better find your way around, live better and better welcome
With this creation of contemporary wall decorations and inclusive artistic signage, Maison Benjamin now has an environment:
- legible,
- reassuring,
- poetic,
- accessible,
- profoundly human.
A place where every move becomes easier,
where each wall tells a story,
where each floor is a destination,
where art becomes a real support tool.
Today, Maison Benjamin is an establishment that gently guides, welcomes with kindness and values each person, through a journey around the world… without ever leaving Paris.
