Office Directory Boards for Lobbies and Floors

• Multi-tenant office buildings with a shared lobby.
• Business parks with several units and a single entrance.
• Medical and professional centres with named practitioners.
• Corporate head offices listing departments by floor.
• Lift lobbies on each floor showing the occupants of that level.

The key decision is how names are changed:

• Slide-in strips printed on a stiff insert and slid into channels behind a clear cover.
• Changeable letter boards where individual letters or name strips are replaced.
• Engraved name plates mounted in a frame and swapped as needed.
• Cut-vinyl name strips applied to a base panel, the most economical option for stable lists.
• Digital directories using a screen, subject to technical assessment and confirmed availability.

We also decide whether the board is wall-hung, freestanding or built into a feature wall.

Frames and panels are normally aluminium or stainless steel, with acrylic covers for slide-in strips. Backings can be painted, laminated or wood-look to suit the lobby. Text can be printed, cut or engraved. For a premium result, we recommend a metal frame with a fixed building name at the top in raised letters and changeable strips below.

Most lobby boards are read in lit interiors and need no extra lighting. In a darker entrance a slimline LED lightbox format gives even backlighting to the strips and makes the board easy to read. External boards or those facing glass doors may need lighting to be seen in the evening. Lighting is chosen to avoid glare on glossy covers.

• Choose shopping mall tenant directories for retail centres, which may include maps and storefront numbers.
• Choose totem signs for outdoor entrances where tenants are listed on a slim vertical sign.
• Choose business park signage when several buildings or units need entrance, tenant and directional signs.
• Choose office wayfinding systems for directional signs beyond the lobby board.

• Text size and viewing distance: boards are read from a metre or two, so text is sized for comfortable reading rather than distance. Long lists may need a larger board rather than smaller text.
• Room to grow: we recommend spare rows so new tenants fit without a redesign.
• Mounting surface: boards can be heavy. Fixing into brick, concrete or framed walls is checked at the survey.
• Glare: glass covers reflect light, so we consider the position of windows and lights.
• Approvals: body corporates and landlords usually control directory format and listing order.

• Number of listings and size of the board.
• Update method and mechanism.
• Material and finish of frame and panel.
• Lighting and electrical work.
• Freestanding or wall-hung construction.
• Cost of future updates, which depends on the system chosen.

Clean covers with a glass-safe cleaner on a soft cloth. Replace faded inserts promptly so the board stays credible. Keep the master file of the board so strips can be reprinted to match. We can handle changes through our maintenance service.

We survey by appointment from Rivonia and make directories for buildings and parks across the province, including industrial and commercial zones.

Popular areas: Sandton, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Midrand, Centurion, Isando.