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The Old War Office

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Originally designed by British architect William Young in 1906, The OWO, formerly the Old War Office, will reopen in 2022 as a residency of 85 homes after being closed to the public for over a century. Notably used as a location for five Bond films as well as in the recent Netflix series The Crown, the OWO will also host the first Raffles hotel in London, with interiors designed by New York-based designer Thierry Despont.

Typeface
1906, 1906 Office
Comissioner
The Greenspace, London
Year
2018
Styles
8 Styles Light, Regular, Bold, Italic - 1906 & 1906 Office
Coverage
Adobe Latin-3
Classification
Sans Serif
URL
theowo.london
thegreenspace.com
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Working closely with creative design agency Greenspace, Colophon created a typefamily comprising four styles — Light, Regular, Italic and Bold. Aptly named ‘1906’ after the year of the building's construction, the design aims to align the heritage of the site with its new contemporary identity of luxury hospitality.
OWO Victory Peace
OWO Date
OWO Victory Peace
Working closely with creative design agency Greenspace, Colophon created a type family comprising four styles — Light, Regular, Italic and Bold. Aptly named ‘1906’ after the year of the building's construction, the design aims to align the heritage of the site with its new contemporary identity of luxury hospitality.
owo guidelines
Q Stylistic Alt
OWO SW1
Q Stylistic Alt
OWO SW1
Greenspace re-named the site as the OWO in a reference to an acronym for the building used by typewriters in the past, dug up from the Old War Office archives. The typeface is designed to sit alongside the new OWO logomark, with wide characters available through stylistic sets specifically for use alongside the wordmark. A robust system of further stylistic sets add extra flare and personality, including flourished forms and symbols to elevate the daily operations of the OWO and communicate directions, times, and even morse code.
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St James Westminster Whitehall
OWO W
St James Westminster Whitehall
OWO W
The OWO will open in 2023

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