Graven Hill signage and hoarding case study in Bicester, five years of signage and graphics across a landmark self-build development

Graven Hill is the UK’s largest self-build and custom-build housing development, located in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Over five years, Motive Graphics has delivered three phases of signage and graphics including a full sales and marketing suite renovation, hoarding boards, community graphics, large-format flags and a large-scale panel and post sign. Phase three, currently underway, adds 100 printed hoarding boards, rigid flag sign trays and 300 Heras banners across the expanding 88-hectare site.

A long-term client relationship

Motive Graphics has worked with Graven Hill across three phases of signage and graphics work.

Phase one involved a full overhaul of the sales and marketing suite, including structural works, graphics, external signage, and the design and installation of approximately 180 hoarding boards. We also replaced four large flags at the main roundabout entrance and installed a large-scale panel and post sign measuring approximately 4 metres high and 2.5 metres wide.

Phase two included further hoarding boards, with one section running alongside a local school. Graven Hill ran a community competition inviting local schoolchildren to submit their own drawings and designs. We printed the winning entries onto the boards, so every time they walked past, they could see their own artwork on the hoarding and feel part of something being built around them.

Phase three, covered in this case study, focuses on a new compound as Graven Hill expands the site.

The hoarding board installation

The hoarding structure itself was already in place on site, built from timber. We supplied 100 printed hoarding boards sized to match the timber slats exactly, allowing a straightforward board-by-board installation.

The boards are laminated aluminium, a robust and weather-resistant material suited to outdoor use on an active construction site. Headers and kickers were fitted at the top and bottom of each run to cover the joins where the hoarding steps down, giving a clean and consistent finish across the full length.

The boards were printed in production order so the installation team could work from one end to the other without interruption. Given the weight of 100 boards, delivery to site required an articulated lorry, with a Moffett forklift used to offload and lay the boards flat ready for fixing. The full installation was completed in approximately two days.

The flag installation

The existing entrance flags had been replaced several times over the years. The original flexible flags were mounted on tall poles set into marshy ground, which meant they had to be taken down in high winds to prevent the poles leaning. Graven Hill decided to replace them with rigid sign trays that would remain stable in all weather conditions.

The new structures use galvanised steel poles set into concrete pads, with the sign trays tensioned top and bottom to give a rigid, flag-like appearance without any movement in the wind. Graven Hill installed the concrete pads themselves to specification; we supplied and installed the flag structures.

A trusted supplier on a growing site

Phase three also includes the installation of 300 Heras banners fitted to temporary security fencing around the active construction area. Graven Hill provided the artwork for the banners this time, with our team reviewing the files before production and managing print and installation.

The ongoing relationship means we already understand the site, hold the brand assets, and can move quickly when a new phase begins

“It’s great working with a brand like Graven Hill who are doing things differently. It’s a proper partnership. If they need a new sign or are embarking on a new phase, they can phone up, talk it through, and know that we can refer back to what worked really well on previous phases and make it even better.”

Hollie, Motive Graphics

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What we delivered:

• Sales and marketing suite renovation including structural works and graphics
• 180 hoarding boards designed and installed
• Large-format flags
• Large-scale panel and post sign measuring approximately 4 metres high and 2.5 metres wide
• Community hoarding boards featuring local schoolchildren’s artwork 
• 100 printed laminated aluminium hoarding boards
• Rigid flag sign trays on galvanised steel poles
• 300 Heras banners fitted to temporary security fencing around the active construction area