Recognized annually as one of the nation’s top ten hospitals by US News & World Report, Penn Medicine is dedicated to the discoveries that advance science as well as its combined missions of research, education, clinical care, and community service to improve the health and well-being of its neighborhoods, city, and the world. 

Furthering its mission, Penn Medicine engaged Two Twelve to develop a comprehensive wayfinding strategy that improves the patient and visitor experience while reinforcing its brand for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) campus, which is composed of HUP, the adjoining Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (PCAM), and the connecting bridges on the first floor. HUP is world-renowned for its clinical and research excellence, forging the way for newer and better ways to diagnose and treat illnesses and disorders. 

Founded in 1874, HUP is the first university-based hospital and is divided into several wings: Devon, Donner, Dulles, Founders, Gates, Gibson, Maloney, Ravdin, Rhoads, Silverstein, and White. PCAM is a state-of-the-art 500,000sf, 5-story outpatient facility with diagnostic and treatment facilities for cancer, neurology, and cardiology, among other types of specialty care. 

Driven by the patient and visitor experience as guiding principle, Two Twelve conducted a comprehensive, immersive audit of existing conditions across the campus and met with individual departments to understand specific issues that impact wayfinding. From there, Two Twelve stewarded a pilot wayfinding program that redefined the mental map of the campus by establishing "The Connector," a wayfinding pathway that links the two adjoining buildings, HUP and PCAM, on the level above the street level, Floor 1. 

In addressing the needs of the organization, Two Twelve’s new Standards Manual of branded signs has been implemented across both buildings in the public areas of the ground and first floors. The Phase 2 implementation extends the Standards Manual to encompass signage for all patient areas within PCAM.

The results of Two Twelve’s work are the implementation of the wayfinding strategy that eases navigation throughout the campus, reduces patient and visitor stress, and creates a positive connection between Penn Medicine and its customers – a signage program that is as functional for the operations of the organization as it is useful to the community it serves.