On the heels of a robust brand refresh, Advanced Drainage Systems needed their office environment to reflect their mission in an impactful way.
- Environmental branding
- Brand experience
- Employee recognition
The challenge
Advanced Drainage Systems, a water management solutions company, conducted a major brand refresh in 2020. As a result, the company found that their corporate headquarters no longer reflected some of the important pillars of their mission. Advanced Drainage Systems tasked treetree with identifying and creating key moments for brand engagement throughout their corporate headquarters that would not only embody the refreshed brand, but also showcase their commitment to environmental sustainability, display service offerings and provide opportunities for employee recognition.
Environmental branding design details
Solution
treetree started by mapping associate and visitor journeys and identified 13 opportunities for brand engagement. Guided by Advanced Drainage Systems’ tagline, which states, “Our reason is water,” we sought to incorporate elements of water and nature throughout. The results are modern and impactful, giving a bold first impression and contemporary brand statement. Employees and visitors alike instantly understand and feel connected to the company’s purpose.
Exterior branding elements
We then brought each internal moment to life in an unmistakably Advanced Drainage System way. A waterfall display composed of a gradient of colored acrylic panels spans the height of the lobby and flows across the ceiling, immediately reminding the viewer of Advanced Drainage Systems’ connection to water. At the front desk, new wall coverings subtly evoke raindrops falling. Dropped pendant lighting adds visual interest in a sleek way.
Interior branding moments
Leadership hallway
For the company’s leadership hallway, Advanced Drainage Systems wanted to feature the mission, service offerings and sustainability. On one side, we created a display of the Advanced Drainage System mission statement that featured natural wood and images of water to remind the viewer of the company’s connection to nature. On the other side, we designed elegant features of each of ADS’ four main services.
Lifecycle of a raindrop infographic
To illustrate the company’s services and commitment to sustainability, we designed a raindrop lifecycle infographic that used 3D-printed scaled replicas of Advanced Drainage Systems’ products to walk the viewer through the company’s role in collecting, cleansing and redistributing water in the environment.
Executive workspaces
We incorporated mission and service messaging throughout the building, drawing on the same acrylic materials and using wood to add a natural touch. treetree also sourced a custom wood and resin art piece for a main conference room and refreshed the CEO’s office to mirror the updates made in the lobby.
Employee recognition moments
treetree designed two unique recognition walls that are meant to be added to in the future. One wall is comprised of acrylic raindrops with employee names and years of service or patents awarded. The different colors of raindrops denote a different service milestone. As employees reach new milestones, the wall will expand and change. The second recognition wall celebrates special contributions by the company’s sales team. Like the raindrop wall, we designed it with expansion in mind as the company recognizes future accomplishments.
Scott Barbour, our CEO, and the entire ADS Corporate Team is very impressed with the final outcome of the branding project at our corporate headquarters. From start to finish, the treetree team has been engaged in bringing a finished product to ADS that is creative, and touches on all points of our rebranding efforts. The beauty and creativity is having a significant positive impact on all of our associates. On behalf of Scott, myself and the ADS Executive Team, we look forward to more projects with treetree.