Twilight exterior of the Roanoke Police Department in Roanoke, Texas, with a wide cantilevered canopy over the entrance, illuminated glass walls, a police badge emblem on a stone tower, American and Texas flags, and landscaped planters with uplighting.

Roanoke, Virginia

Roanoke Police Department

Reflecting Pride and Courage

Project type

Wayfinding Signage Design Environmental Graphic Design

Project sector

Civic Design
Monument sign reading ‘CITY OF ROANOKE’ in dimensional white and blue letters above ‘POLICE DEPARTMENT & MUNICIPAL COURT’ on a pale panel with a stone base, surrounded by yellow and white flowers, ornamental grasses, and young trees, with the police building visible in the background under a clear blue sky.

Project info

Client City of Roanoke

Architect GFF

Architect FGM Architects

Landscape LandDesign

Other 720 Design

Other SEDALCO

Wayfinding at Roanoke’s police and municipal court building

For the City of Roanoke, RSM Design collaborated with the community, city employees, and architects to develop a comprehensive signage, wayfinding, and specialty graphics system for the new police department and municipal court building. The scope extended throughout the exterior and interior, guiding the public and city staff from arrival through every level. By engaging key stakeholders throughout the process, RSM Design crafted solutions that improved navigation for visitors and employees alike, creating a building that serves multiple civic functions under one roof and gives residents a public space to take pride in.

Beyond wayfinding, RSM Design developed a branded environment that celebrates Roanoke, its history, and the people who serve it. Historic photographs and quotes throughout the interior connect the building to the community’s past, while a mural in the gym gives officers a space of their own and a daily reminder of what it means to wear the badge. Together, these elements create an environment that instills pride in the city and honors the commitment of those who protect it.

Blurred police officer in a dark uniform walking past a limestone wall with dimensional dark metal letters reading ‘CITY OF ROANOKE’ above ‘POLICE DEPARTMENT & MUNICIPAL COURT,’ beside a glass entrance with ‘Court’ lettering on the window.
Tall white freestanding sign with a blue Roanoke Police badge emblem above the text ‘POLICE VEHICLE PARKING ONLY,’ beside a young tree with a grassy field and clear blue sky in the background.

At the Roanoke Police Department, the parking is the first impression. Clear, branded signage makes it easy to use and reflects the department’s identity.

Market Parking Garage and Wayfinding Design
Navy blue freestanding directional sign with white text and arrows reading ‘COURT’ and ‘POLICE’ with left arrows and ‘PROPERTY’ with an up arrow, standing in a landscaped bed of shrubs and mulch beside a concrete walkway, with dimensional ‘PROPERTY’ lettering on the brick building behind it.
Close view of the Roanoke Municipal Court entrance with dimensional bronze letters reading ‘COURT’ beneath a canopy with a linear light strip, and glass doors and windows reflecting an American flag, blue sky, and trees, with reversed ‘COURT’ lettering visible through the glass on the right.
Two police officers in dark uniforms walking and talking in an interior hallway, slightly blurred with motion, beside a large white wall graphic of dimensional bronze street-map linework centered on the Roanoke Police badge emblem.
Tall interior corridor with a large silver Roanoke Police officer badge, reading ‘OFFICER,’ ‘ROANOKE POLICE,’ and ‘TX,’ mounted on a light wood-paneled wall beneath a skylight and a cluster of angled linear light fixtures, with a blurred person carrying a backpack walking past in the foreground.
Angled close view of the dimensional silver Roanoke Police officer badge on a light wood-paneled wall, with ‘OFFICER’ across the top, ‘TO PROTECT AND SERVE’ above an illustration of historic downtown buildings, a blue State of Texas seal, and ‘ROANOKE POLICE’ and ‘TX’ on scrolled banners framed by laurel branches.
Woman seated at a white round high-top table working on a laptop with a coffee cup, in a break area with gold pedestal tables, black stools, and bench seating, beneath a large black-and-white photo mural of smiling Roanoke police officers on bicycles, in a patrol car, on a motorcycle, and walking a neighborhood beat.

Transforming blank walls into shared moments of community pride

Service Public Art & Murals
Fitness room with a blurred person in a black shirt walking past a rack of dumbbells, with strength machines and a mirror, beneath exposed black ceilings, and walls with a black-and-white American flag mural with a blue line and a stenciled quote beginning ‘The greatest man is the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming.’
Fitness room with a blurred person in a black shirt walking past a rack of dumbbells, with strength machines and a mirror, beneath exposed black ceilings, and walls with a black-and-white American flag mural with a blue line and a stenciled quote beginning ‘The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.’
Angled view of a room identification sign reading ‘1008 COURTROOM’ in dark raised lettering with Braille on a frosted white panel, layered over a blue glass backing with a partial municipal seal, mounted on a dark perforated wall.

With many departments and daily visitors, civic buildings depend on clear, legible signage.

Market Civic Design
Police service window with dimensional silver letters reading ‘POLICE’ above a glass-fronted counter, where an officer in a dark uniform works at a computer in front of a wall graphic of street-map linework and the Roanoke Police badge emblem, framed by dark columns with vertical light strips.
Judge in a black robe seated at a marble-fronted bench with a gavel and computer monitor, in a courtroom with light wood paneling, American and Texas flags, and a bronze ‘ROANOKE MUNICIPAL COURT, ROANOKE • TEXAS’ seal with a star on the wall behind.

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