Bayan Signage designs and builds building directory boards for office towers, business centres and residential lobbies, with tenant strips your building team can change in a minute. Every board is cut, assembled and checked against the approved tenant list in our Ajman factory, and we hand over a strip template so the board still looks uniform years later.
A building directory board is the first sign a visitor reads after the entrance doors: a list of tenants by floor and suite, usually beside the security desk or facing the lift lobby. We make them for commercial towers, business centres with dozens of small offices, medical buildings and residential towers that list the management office, gym and service rooms. The frame can match the lobby in brushed stainless, PVD, timber-effect wrap or painted aluminium.
What decides whether a directory still looks right in year three is the update routine, not the header. Strips cut to the wrong height, typed in a different font or printed on glossy paper make an expensive lobby look neglected. We size the strip channels from the longest tenant name, set the line pitch so Arabic and English both fit, and keep the artwork file for every board we make, so a replacement strip from us matches the originals exactly.
Bayan Signage is the production arm of Bayan Advertising, which has worked in the UAE for 15 years, and our factory at Alam Square, Industrial Area 2, Ajman has been running since 2016. Headers are CNC-routed or laser-cut in-house, strips are printed and cut on our own equipment, and the crew that builds the board installs it. Most of our work comes from returning clients and referrals, which is exactly why we keep every template on file.
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Most lobbies suit one of these formats. The right one depends on how often tenants change and who on the building team will update the listings.
Extruded aluminium channels on a rigid back panel, one strip per tenant. The default for commercial towers where leases run for years and strips change a few times a year.
View details →A hinged aluminium frame with a clear cast acrylic face over the strips. Suits unsupervised residential lobbies, where open strips tend to be moved, swapped or taken home.
View details →A double-sided plinth for open lobbies with glass walls and no usable wall. Bolted through a hidden base plate into the slab so it cannot rock or be dragged aside.
View details →Small boards at each lift lobby listing who is on that floor, in the same finish as the main board, so visitors confirm the floor before walking the corridor.
View details →A UV-printed acrylic or aluminium composite panel with raised laser-cut lettering, listing the gym, pool, management office and service rooms where listings rarely change and a permanent look matters.
View details →A fixed header and printed lines with a portrait screen for notices or fast-changing tenants. Useful in mixed-use buildings that want one directory to do both jobs.
View details →We measure the wall, check sight lines from the entrance and the security desk, note fire alarm panels and access-control units nearby, and count current tenants plus expected growth. The visit is free in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.
Our designers set the line pitch from the longest tenant name in both languages. Draftsmen then produce a full-scale shop drawing with every line filled in, so you approve the real board, not a sketch.
Back panels and headers are CNC-routed in aluminium, ACP or acrylic to ±0.1 mm, and metal header letters are laser-cut, so the strip channels sit dead parallel and strips slide without catching.
Tenant strips are printed in a matt finish and cut to size, frames are powder-coated or wrapped to match the lobby, and every strip is checked against the approved list for spelling and floor order.
Wall boards hang on concealed cleats into block or concrete, shimmed level where walls are out of true. Freestanding units are anchored to the slab. Strips are loaded on site and checked line by line.
The building manager receives the strip template, spare blank strips and a one-page guide, so a new tenant can be added the same week without guessing the font, size or spacing.
This is where we start for a typical commercial lobby. Finishes follow your interior design, and any change from this standard is itemised on the quote.
| Component | Our standard | Upgrade options | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back panel | 4 mm ACP or 3 mm aluminium, powder-coated | Brushed stainless, PVD, timber-effect wrap | A rigid, flat panel keeps the channels straight, so strips slide in without force. |
| Strip carrier | Extruded aluminium channels at a fixed pitch | Steel backing for magnetic strips | The carrier sets the capacity and line spacing for the life of the board. |
| Tenant strips | Matt printed PVC or aluminium, 25 to 30 mm high | Cut-vinyl or UV-printed aluminium strips | Matt strips stay readable opposite glazed entrances; gloss reflects the daylight. |
| Header | Flat-cut acrylic or aluminium letters | Laser-cut stainless, PVD gold, backlit header | The header is the permanent, branded part and carries the building's identity. |
| Cover | Open face for staffed lobbies | Lockable hinged frame with 4 mm clear acrylic or polycarbonate | A cover stops strips being moved in lobbies without a security desk. |
| Fixing | Concealed cleats into block or concrete | Freestanding plinth with resin anchors | Hidden fixings make the board tamper-resistant and easy to lift off for refurbishment. |
These points come up on almost every lobby we survey. Each is cheap to settle on the drawing and expensive to fix once the board is on the wall.
Count today's tenants, then add 20 to 30 percent spare lines. A tower that is 70 percent let at handover usually fills within two years, and a board sized to the opening list ends up with names taped to the frame. If the wall cannot take a bigger board, we design the carrier so a matching extension panel can be added later without moving the header.
Ask the leasing team for the three longest tenant names, legal suffixes included: LLC, FZE, FZCO, DMCC. A strip designed around a short sample name fails the first time a long one arrives, and the only fix is a smaller font for that tenant, which looks wrong next to the others. We draw the worst case on the approval drawing so you can see that it fits.
Most people read comfortably between about 900 and 1,800 mm above the floor, and wheelchair users need the lowest lines to be useful. We avoid tenant lines below roughly 800 mm or above 1,900 mm, which on a tall, narrow wall means two columns rather than one long list. List floors from the top down so the order matches the lift panel.
A board opposite a glazed entrance can be unreadable at noon because it reflects the sky. Before we fix the position, we check the wall at the brightest time of day. If glare is likely, we specify matt strips and an open frame, or move the board to a side wall where visitors still stop on their way to the lifts.
Some building managers want to print strips in their own office; others prefer to email a name and receive a finished strip. Both work, but the strip system has to match. Paper inserts behind acrylic suit in-house printing; slide-in aluminium strips suit an ordered supply. Choosing the system after the board is built is how mismatched strips start.
We price each directory from its drawing, so there is no fixed list. Send the tenant list, a photo of the lobby wall and rough dimensions, and we usually return an itemised quote within 24 hours, with fabrication, strips and installation shown separately.
More lines mean a larger back panel, more channel and more strips. Spare capacity adds a little now and saves replacing the whole board when the building fills.
Printed inserts behind acrylic are the most economical to build. Slide-in aluminium and magnetic systems cost more at the start but make every later change quicker.
Painted aluminium and ACP are the baseline. Brushed stainless, PVD colours, timber-effect wraps and backlit headers add material and finishing time.
A freestanding directory needs a structural plinth, a hidden base plate and finishing on both faces, so it costs more than a wall board of the same capacity.
Matching floor directories multiply the number of units, but design and set-up are shared across the set, so each extra board costs less than the first.
A backlit header needs LEDs, a driver and a power point behind the board, coordinated with the building electrician before the wall is finished.
An indoor building directory board rarely needs a municipality permit, but it almost always needs the building's own approval. Owners' associations, facility managers and master developers usually sign off the design, position and fixings, and new buildings add the consultant and fit-out contractor. We prepare the drawings for that approval and check that the board does not block fire alarm panels, hose reels or exit routes.
Buildings designed to the Dubai Universal Design Code are expected to give clear, high-contrast, non-glare information at accessible heights, which affects the strip finish, letter size and the lowest line on the board. Requirements vary by building type and emirate, so we confirm what applies to your lobby at the survey and design to it from the first drawing.
Panels, headers, strips and frames are cut, printed and finished at Alam Square, Industrial Area 2, Ajman. You are welcome to visit while your board is in production.
Every board comes with the strip artwork file and spare blank strips, so new tenants match the originals in font, size and spacing.
Arabic and English are laid out together from the first drawing, and tenant names are checked against the spelling on their trade licence.
One contact handles the survey, drawing approval, production and installation, and stays your contact when you need new strips later.
Board, strips, lift-landing units and installation are priced separately, usually within 24 hours, so you can phase the work if the budget needs it.
More than 500 clients across the UAE, including national retail groups and international brands, with most of our work coming from returning clients and referrals.
It depends on the number of tenant lines, the strip system, the header finish and whether the board is wall-mounted or freestanding. A painted aluminium board for twenty tenants costs far less than a freestanding stainless directory with a backlit header. Send us the tenant list, the wall size and a photo, and we will send an itemised quote, usually within 24 hours.
With a slide-in system, you slide the old strip out of the end of its channel and push the new one in, which takes about a minute. Magnetic strips simply lift off. Printed inserts behind acrylic are reprinted as a sheet. We supply the template, or you can email us the new name and we produce a finished strip.
A board around 900 x 1,200 mm usually holds 30 to 40 single-column lines, or roughly double that in two columns, depending on strip height. Bilingual lines take more space than English alone. We size the board from your current list plus 20 to 30 percent spare capacity, so it does not fill up in the first year.
Wall-mounted boards cost less and take no floor space, so they suit most lobbies with a clear wall facing the entrance. Freestanding directories suit large lobbies with glass walls, or buildings where the board needs to sit in the visitor's path. They cost more because of the base and the finished second face.
Yes, and most of the boards we make are bilingual. We set Arabic and English as one layout, so neither looks squeezed, and we check tenant names against the spelling on their trade licence. Arabic lines usually need a slightly taller strip, which we allow for when we calculate the board's capacity.
When tenants change constantly, when the building has several entrances to keep consistent, or when the directory also has to show notices and events. For a tower with steady tenants, a printed board costs less, needs no software and still looks right after ten years. Our digital directory displays page covers the screen option.
Usually, yes. We can remake strips in both languages, add a matching extension panel when the board is full, or replace the strip carrier while keeping your existing header and frame. We measure and photograph the board first, so new parts match the old ones in finish and spacing.
Yes. Our crews install across all seven emirates from our factory in Ajman, including Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. The site survey is free in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, and lift-landing directories can be fitted floor by floor around your building's working hours.
Send your logo, the fascia size and a site photo. Our estimating team replies with options and an itemised price, usually within 24 hours.