Catalyst Exteriorsignage Logowallsignage header

Design-Build Sig­nage Brings Cohe­sion and Sophis­ti­ca­tion to Mixed-Use Cowork­ing Space at Catalyst

This 170,000-square-foot office, event, and com­mu­ni­ty space and its ameni­ties required a cohe­sive sig­nage sys­tem that would feel mod­ern, adapt­able, and ele­vat­ed, sup­port­ing both the build­ing’s archi­tec­ture and evolv­ing ten­ant needs.

Cat­a­lyst Oma­ha, once Oma­ha Steel Works, has been trans­formed into a mod­ern cowork­ing and office space designed to inspire and ele­vate pro­duc­tiv­i­ty. With 170,000 square feet of office, event, and com­mu­ni­ty space and ameni­ties, the project required a cohe­sive sig­nage sys­tem that would feel mod­ern, adapt­able, and ele­vat­ed, sup­port­ing the build­ing’s archi­tec­ture and evolv­ing ten­ant needs.

Project Overview

The Cat­a­lyst project was a com­pre­hen­sive design-build sig­nage col­lab­o­ra­tion devel­oped in part­ner­ship with two real estate devel­op­ers, Koel­bel and Com­pa­ny and GreenS­late Devel­op­ment, whose goal was to trans­form the for­mer Oma­ha Steel Works fac­to­ry into an ecosys­tem for inno­va­tion and entrepreneurship. 

Cat­a­lyst called for a sig­nage pro­gram that bal­anced sim­plic­i­ty with sophis­ti­ca­tion. The team need­ed to design sig­nage that was visu­al­ly refined, high­ly cus­tomiz­able, and adapt­able to sea­son­al and com­mu­ni­ty-dri­ven events with­out over­whelm­ing the building’s clean archi­tec­tur­al language.

The Approach

Catlayst Grass Logo Wall Signage horiz

The sig­nage team col­lab­o­rat­ed close­ly with design­er Anna Bogler, who served both as the project design­er and the owner’s rep­re­sen­ta­tive. This stream­lined com­mu­ni­ca­tion and allowed for quick deci­sion-mak­ing while main­tain­ing design integri­ty through­out the process.

The strat­e­gy focused on:

Clean forms and restrained mate­ri­als
Thought­ful light­ing inte­gra­tion
Mod­u­lar sig­nage sys­tems that could accom­mo­date change

The Chal­lenge

Flex­i­bil­i­ty was key, as the building’s brand­ing evolved through­out the project. With fre­quent updates to iconog­ra­phy and oth­er brand­ing ele­ments, the client need­ed a sys­tem that could shift with­out con­stant redesign or fabrication.

The team designed with adapt­abil­i­ty in mind, ensur­ing icons could be swapped or revised with­out dis­rupt­ing the over­all sys­tem or aes­thet­ic. This approach empow­ered the client while allow­ing devel­op­ers to main­tain a pol­ished, cohe­sive look through­out the building.

Exte­ri­or Signage

Catalyst Exterior Dimensional Letters 500

The exte­ri­or sig­nage became a defin­ing fea­ture of the build­ing. RGB-illu­mi­nat­ed let­ters allow the build­ing sign to change col­or for spe­cial occa­sions and aware­ness cam­paigns like Breast Can­cer Aware­ness Month. The dynam­ic light­ing adds per­son­al­i­ty and com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment while keep­ing the core design sim­ple and timeless.

The exte­ri­or let­ters were fab­ri­cat­ed with high-qual­i­ty crafts­man­ship that ensured clar­i­ty, dura­bil­i­ty, and visu­al impact both day and night.

Inte­ri­or Signage

The inte­ri­or sig­nage sys­tem was designed to feel light, mod­ern, and inten­tion­al­ly under­stat­ed while offer­ing moments of visu­al inter­est through mate­r­i­al detail and lighting.

Key ele­ments included:

  • Clear acrylic back­ers, inten­tion­al­ly under­sized with pol­ished edges. When ambi­ent light hits the edges, the signs appear to glow, cre­at­ing a sub­tle but strik­ing effect.

  • A dig­i­tal­ly print­ed wood-grain sign, deliv­er­ing the warmth and tex­ture of wood while main­tain­ing con­sis­ten­cy and durability.

  • A clean, leg­i­ble ele­va­tor direc­to­ry that anchors wayfind­ing with­in the building.

  • Sleek T‑brack­et-mount­ed signs are used through­out the build­ing, rein­forc­ing a con­sis­tent visu­al lan­guage across shared spaces.

The Results

The Cat­a­lyst sig­nage pro­gram deliv­ers a refined bal­ance of sim­plic­i­ty, flex­i­bil­i­ty, and visu­al impact. Exte­ri­or ele­ments engage the com­mu­ni­ty through dynam­ic light­ing, while inte­ri­or sig­nage enhances nav­i­ga­tion and atmos­phere through thought­ful detail­ing and mate­r­i­al choices.

The result is a cohe­sive, future-ready sig­nage sys­tem that reflects strong col­lab­o­ra­tion, care­ful crafts­man­ship, and a shared com­mit­ment to design excellence.

Have ques­tions about this project?
Reach out to us at connect@​latitudesignage.​com.

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