Forging What’s Next
Steelport Developer: Slate Asset Management
Forging What’s Next
Steelport Developer: Slate Asset Management
Forging What’s Next
Steelport Developer: Slate Asset Management
Steelport is a world-class industrial park connecting rail, road, and water in the historic port of Hamilton, Canada. The original site of the Stelco plant, this 800-acre lot has driven local economy for over a century, giving it the moniker, “the Steel Capital of Canada.” Slate Asset Management purchased the land with the intent to redevelop it into a new hub of modern industry. Frontier named the project and designed its identity, website, and placemaking strategy.
Visual Identity, Messaging, Naming, Placemaking
Steelport is a world-class industrial park connecting rail, road, and water in the historic port of Hamilton, Canada. The original site of the Stelco plant, this 800-acre lot has driven local economy for over a century, giving it the moniker, “the Steel Capital of Canada.” Slate Asset Management purchased the land with the intent to redevelop it into a new hub of modern industry. Frontier named the project and designed its identity, website, and placemaking strategy.
Visual Identity, Messaging, Naming, Placemaking
The city’s history as a vital industrial harbor throughout the twentieth century was an important part of this project’s story. Our work was to design an identity that respected and celebrated the economic and geographical significance of this plot, laying the groundwork for a revitalized industrial hub. Visiting the site as many of its buildings were being torn down and rebuilt was an eye-opening activity for our design team.
The city’s history as a vital industrial harbor throughout the twentieth century was an important part of this project’s story. Our work was to design an identity that respected and celebrated the economic and geographical significance of this plot, laying the groundwork for a revitalized industrial hub. Visiting the site as many of its buildings were being torn down and rebuilt was an eye-opening activity for our design team.
At eight hundred acres, the scale and reach of this project are monumental, requiring a forward-thinking design philosophy fuelled by social and environmental sustainability. As inspiration, we looked to modern machinery—from metropolises to micro chips—and the relationships between moving parts, each contributing to a bigger whole. We developed several moving patterns based on this theme, which became the basis for Steelport’s visual language.
At eight hundred acres, the scale and reach of this project are monumental, requiring a forward-thinking design philosophy fuelled by social and environmental sustainability. As inspiration, we looked to modern machinery—from metropolises to micro chips—and the relationships between moving parts, each contributing to a bigger whole. We developed several moving patterns based on this theme, which became the basis for Steelport’s visual language.
The name Steelport is a clear and memorable portmanteau of the two defining characteristics of the harbor: its identity as the site of the prolific Stelco factory and its relationship with the water.
The name Steelport is a clear and memorable portmanteau of the two defining characteristics of the harbor: its identity as the site of the prolific Stelco factory and its relationship with the water.
A solid, multi-use S icon also comes from this geometric foundation and is used throughout the development’s launch campaign as a container of diverse industrial imagery—a signal of what’s to come.
A solid, multi-use S icon also comes from this geometric foundation and is used throughout the development’s launch campaign as a container of diverse industrial imagery—a signal of what’s to come.
