With the 1951 debut of WGBH Radio, WGBH Educational Foundation has grown to include multiple television and radio channels, a popular web site, and a wide range of multimedia productions—from IMAX films to online teaching tools used in classrooms nationwide. WGBH’s new state-of-the-art headquarters called for the consolidation of 12 buildings into a 2-building, 310,000-square-foot complex, which houses production facilities, offices, and a technical operations center for television and radio broadcast studios.

A comprehensive environmental graphics and wayfinding sign program for this LEED-accredited building was designed with a combination of large-scale imagery, typography, and video/digital displays, all emphasizing the WGBH brand. Wall murals featuring characters from well known WGBH produced programs, including Bob Vila, Jim Henson’s Sesame Street muppets, and Julia Child, mark both public and non-public spaces. A comprehensive donor recognition program is visible throughout areas of the headquarters emphasizing the connection between WGBH, it’s members, and the greater Boston/New England community.

The project’s 30-foot-high, digital facade, visible for more than 2 miles, features changing images from broadcasts of public television programs. Most of the facade’s imagery is concentrated at the north end of a glass-skinned, 2-story, 250-foot-wide “connector” that unites the new studio structure with an existing 7-story office tower located across the street. Narrow video strips are spaced along the curtain wall at various intervals toward the south. The connector serves as both a bridge between the 2 buildings and also contains one-third of the complex’s office space.