A London studio folded the initials C and H into a house-shaped mark and a flexible identity system to brand a new four-floor cultural venue that houses galleries, studios, a library and public spaces.
Culture House Sunderland is a four-floor cultural hub—part of the Riverside Sunderland regeneration—hosting an immersion gallery, green-screen studio, rooftop sky garden, library and the National Centre for Creative Smart Cities.
The identity uses a palette of yellow, red, blue and green within a monochrome framework, plus photography and animation framed by the house shape to connect the brand to the community.
Tone of voice is positioned as 'insightful and accessible' to support the venue’s brief to be a welcoming, local 'living room' for shared experiences.
# What happened Culture House Sunderland opened as a four-floor cultural venue and library in Tyne and Wear. Sunderland City Council brought in Studio Blackburn, a long-term creative partner, to create an identity for the new public space that aims to act as a "living room" for the local community.
# What the building includes The hub combines multiple cultural facilities under one roof. The brief and project description list a 360-degree immersive gallery, a green screen studio, podcast studios, children's play zones, a rooftop sky garden and a library. It also hosts the National Centre for Creative Smart Cities. The venue sits within the Riverside Sunderland regeneration project.
# The design idea
The colour system intentionally matches the building's architecture and materials. A palette of yellow, red, blue and green sits on top of a monochrome framework so the identity can feel integrated with the physical space. Motion and photography are applied inside the house-frame device to keep the brand grounded in community activity.
# Tone and intention Leadership at Culture House set the social brief: the venue should feel welcoming and give people a range of things that "interest and inspire them," as director Leanne Littlewood described it. Studio Blackburn's founder, Paul Blackburn, framed the identity objective directly: the new public space "belongs to the people of Sunderland," and the identity should "reflect the energy and character of the city" while remaining inclusive and aspirational.
# Practical applications The house mark is used across website, social media, print, signage and internal wayfinding. Typography is animated in places to reveal the house outline, and the logo can separate to show the C and H initials when a looser treatment is needed. Those choices make the system modular: it can be compact for signage or expansive for larger digital and environmental moments.
# Why it matters for the city Sunderland has a post-industrial history and local civic investment is focused on regeneration. A culturally programmed building with flexible media facilities and public spaces gives local residents new ways to gather, learn and produce work. The identity's design choices are intended to make the venue feel familiar and easy to use rather than formal or exclusive.
# Bottom line Studio Blackburn translated a civic brief into a simple, repeatable identity device that aligns visually with the building and practically with the venue's role as an accessible public living room. The system is modular, color-forward and built to carry photography, motion and wayfinding through the physical and digital touchpoints of Culture House Sunderland.
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