A collaborative space of shared effort and responsibility
Arwos launched a pioneering initiative: a new headquarters and recycling facility designed by a leading architectural practice, incorporating the latest in waste sorting technology. The buildings, shaped like traditional barns and constructed in wooed were inspired by the surrounding rural landscape, bringing together all previously separate municipal departments under one roof.
Initial analysis revealed ongoing tension in the old: visitors often found the multi-fraction sorting system confusing or cumbersome, sometimes ignoring signage, which created stress and conflict for staff and users alike. Understanding this dynamic was crucial to shaping the new facility.
Working closely with the architect team I developed a wayfinding system with two legs: one was traditional—guiding people efficiently across the site—and the other was behavioral, redesigning the recycling experience itself. Friendly, illustrative icons and a collaborative tone made sorting intuitive and turned staff into guides rather than enforcers.
A Pioneering Recycling Facility
Arwos (“Our inheritance” in the local dialect) is the municipal utility company for Aabenraa, responsible for waste management, recycling, water supply, wastewater, and landfill operations.
In 2016, Arwos launched a pioneering initiative: a new headquarters and recycling facility designed by a leading architectural practice, incorporating the latest in waste sorting technology.
The buildings, shaped like traditional barns and constructed in timber, were inspired by the surrounding rural landscape, bringing together all previously separate municipal departments under one roof.
The brief & the challenges
The initial analysis revealed that staff at the old recycling facility, experienced ongoing tension: visitors often found the multi-fraction sorting system confusing or cumbersome, sometimes ignoring signage, which created stress and conflict for staff and users alike. Understanding this dynamic was crucial to shaping the new facility.
Working closely with the architects and client stakeholders, I developed a comprehensive visual and wayfinding system, which addressed two complementary challenges:
Guiding wayfinding: guiding pedestrians, vehicles, staff, and visitors efficiently to the right locations across the site.
Behavioral wayfinding: Redesigning the recycling experience itself to make sorting intuitive, collaborative, and enjoyable, easing the process for visitors and supporting staff as guides rather than enforcers.
A new standard
Arwos quickly became a national and international reference for innovative recycling design, attracting visitors from across Denmark and neighbouring countries.
The iconography developed for the site directly influenced Denmark and Sweden’s national recycling systems, now used nationwide.
The project demonstrated how design, baked into architecture from the start, can transform everyday interactions and make sustainability collaborative and accessible.
The solution
The solution included a signage system with friendly, illustrative icons inspired by contemporary street art, a flexible structure for evolving fractions – soft colours and a tone of voice that emphasised shared responsibility.
Each fraction was represented with a number, an icon, and a list of items, allowing flexibility as materials and sorting requirements evolved.
