Gunpowder Mills

Published August 7, 2026

Contributed by Hugh Morse

Place branding and wayfinding consultancy DNCO selected Avec for the rebrand of Gunpowder Mills (formerly Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills) – a 175-acre former explosives site on the edge of London, evolving into a destination for heritage, wilderness and workspaces.

Avec Sharp and Avec Stencil anchor the visual identity across the primary logo, signage, digital platforms, and print. The typefaces’ architectural, robust forms echo the site's historic industrial structures while lending a contemporary edge to the destination.

From DNCO’s website:

The Gunpowder Mills is full of curious architecture – monumental buttresses, mammoth walls and other fortified features designed to contain accidental explosions. Our choice of typography, Avec Stencil, draws on these robust forms, recalling an industrial past while subtle quirks give the brand a contemporary warmth.

Capturing the spirit of the place was central to telling its story, so we partnered with photographer Andy Mackie to create a distinctive photographic library rooted in the site’s unique atmosphere. Together, typography and photography grounded a design system gently overgrown with cyanotype imprints of nature and industrial textures. This was complemented by a colour palette drawn from the mossy tones of the forests and meadows, punctuated by chemical pops of coral, orange and electric blue.

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