At the Summit Bechtel Reserve, even the signs are cool (and award-winning)

It’s the details that elevate the Summit Bechtel Reserve from an awesome high-adventure destination to one of the coolest places on earth.

Details like the signs. At the archery area called the Bows, yellow, red and blue targets are integrated into each letter of the sign. At the Ropes climbing area, actual rope wraps around a vertical pole. At the Park skateboarding area, the letters look like they’re spray-painted onto a large concrete cylinder.

Though they might not express it outright, Scouts and Venturers notice awesome touches like these. They make SBR a destination young people want to visit and return to again and again.

But it’s not just the Scouts and Venturers who noticed the cool signs. Recently the Summit Bechtel Reserve signs were named Best Sign Systems of 2015 by the (appropriately named) industry magazine Signs of the Times.

The Summit’s signs do more than point the way or tell you where you are. They define its character. Read on for more.

Turning to the experts

The signs were designed by RSM Design and fabricated and installed by Design Communications Ltd.

The RSM and DCL teams did a fantastic job. Each area’s sign is a promise of something exciting a few steps away.

Scouts and Venturers see the signs, and the Summit’s awesome high-adventure activities deliver on those promises.

Technical details

For those of you into that kind of thing, here are some details on how these signs were made:

Engineers created detailed shop drawings and proofs using AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW software, then prepped the files for CNC-router production with SA Intl.’s EnRoute 4 software.

The shop produced the signs using an array of natural and rugged materials: locally sourced hemlock and cedar, precast concrete, faux-finished aluminum and Cor-Ten® patina-finish steel. DCL processed the panels via a combination of its MultiCam 7000 CNC router, a Powermatic 68 table saw, a Miller Electric Mfg. Co. Millermatic 200 MIG welder, and a Portland 67255 chainsaw.

Photos of the signs

Here are a few photos of the signs that caught the eye of Signs of the Times magazine.

The-Summit-main-sign

The-Park-sign-at-the-Summit The-Rocks-sign-at-the-Summit The-Bows-sign-at-the-Summit The-Ropes-sign-at-the-Summit


Hat tip: Thanks to Mike Lawrance for the blog post idea.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.