Four years have already passed since Partners Federal Credit Union launched its mobile branch in Orlando, Florida. The project became a reality from a team-building event where diverse individuals from different departments got together to bring innovation to the credit union. There was a unique opportunity for the credit union to bring the branch to areas of the widespread space of The Walt Disney Company in Lake Buena Vista and other areas near Orlando where the Cast works out of. The idea was simple, bring the branch to the Member.
As part of the project management team, I led the interior design, selection of materials, colors, finishes, and external branding look/feel. I quickly came to learn that designing a mobile branch is very different than designing a brick-and-mortar branch. The layout of the interior which was a team effort, included a bank teller window, a service desk, and a private large area in the back that could be split into two offices or used as one room to conduct workshops.
In order to make space feel larger, we used a light color texture in beiges/grays for walls and countertops, flooring in grays, and a feature tile wall in Partners red.
The exterior of the branch included many requests that would make the unit even more useful when visiting locations around the Disney property. There is an extension that pulls out that provides the interior more room for the front desk. The branch includes an ATM that is accessible from the exterior as well as a teller window. The exterior mid-section also has a TV monitor that is used for marketing purposes. We utilized the color red again on the extendable canopy that brings a nice pop of color to the branch when it is fully open.
A highlight of the wrap is that it was installed in two layers. The metal effect layer is one layer, then there is a second layer of semigloss pixie dust elements spread throughout the body of the truck. The beauty about the wrap is that we are able to easily overlay marketing campaigns over the back of the mobile branch wrap.
