Overview
The Lofts on Rose (Phalen Village Apartments) is a new affordable apartment community on Prosperity Avenue in St. Paul, and Dimension Sign delivered its complete signage package: 150+ ADA interior signs — unit IDs with braille for every apartment, room IDs, level indicators, stair egress, and accessible-exit signage — plus the script LOFTS on Rose building sign, a 12'-4" flat-cut aluminum canopy letterset, and cast-aluminum address numbers, all under GC Weis Builders.
01 / The challenge
Affordable housing carries paperwork most sign vendors never see: HUD Section 3 requirements, prevailing wage, and certified payroll tracked in LCPtracker, with a union installation requirement on top. Then the architect kept designing — two late ASIs added area-of-refuge communication signage at every elevator landing, evacuation maps, a second garage clearance bar, and a new post-and-sleeve detail for the parking signs after production was already underway.
02 / Our approach
We built the interior program on our standard ADA system — non-glare acrylic subsurface-painted to the spec color, raised text with clear Grade 2 bead braille — and ran the compliance side in-house, from Section 3 forms to certified payroll. The exterior package paired the script building sign with half-inch flat-cut aluminum canopy letters and dark-bronze cast-aluminum address numbers, set through a coordinated union install. When the ASIs landed, we absorbed five change orders — from added canopy letters to the area-of-refuge package — and still closed out on the GC's schedule.
From the submittal set
Scope & features
- 76 unit-number signs with Grade 2 braille, rooms 101–419
- 36 room IDs plus restroom, no-smoking, and utility signage
- 15 accessible-exit signs and 10 stair egress panels
- 10 tactile level indicators for both stair towers
- Area-of-refuge two-way communication signage at every elevator landing
- Script LOFTS on Rose building sign and 12'-4" canopy letterset in ½" flat-cut aluminum
- Two sets of 15" cast-aluminum address numbers, dark bronze
- HUD Section 3, prevailing wage, and certified payroll compliance
- LCPtracker subcontractor updates turned the same evening the GC asked — ahead of their city meeting
- Union installation, coordinated by our team
- Five change orders absorbed without slipping closeout
- Late add-ons — evacuation maps, refuge directionals, a fire-panel sign — proofed the same week
Materials
- ⅛" non-glare acrylic · subsurface paint
- Raised text · clear Grade 2 bead braille
- ½" flat-cut aluminum (5052)
- Cast aluminum address numbers
- PVC clearance bang bars
