Streamlined Visitor Navigation and Communication for a Forest Work Retreat
Screens across the venue's buildings, integrated wayfinding, a custom CMS, and a smoother experience for every visitor walking through the door. How Horapark used Castit to bring effortless communication into a unique work-and-relaxation environment on the edge of a forest.
A work and relaxation venue is a different kind of space to communicate in. Visitors aren't there for one fixed reason. Some are coming in to use a co-working area, others are arriving for a meeting, others are passing through to the restaurant or the game room. They need to find their way around quickly, see what's relevant to them, and feel comfortable in the environment from the moment they arrive. Communication has to support all of that without getting in the way of the calm, considered atmosphere the venue is built around.
Horapark came to Castit looking for exactly that kind of solution. The team wanted real-time information, smooth wayfinding, and a centralized way to manage everything across its buildings, all while keeping the experience polished and easy for visitors. This is how the Castit rollout, paired with a custom CMS, brought it together.
About the Client
Horapark is a one-of-a-kind work and relaxation venue located in Ede, the Netherlands, set on the edge of a forest just outside the city. The facility offers a unique blend of co-working spaces, meeting areas, and recreational amenities, all designed around the idea that focused work and genuine relaxation belong together. Visitors come for the curved-screen co-working stations, the game room, the restaurant, and the calm of being surrounded by natural surroundings rather than urban noise.
Like most modern work-and-leisure venues, Horapark serves a varied audience across multiple parts of the day. A morning visitor settling into a co-working spot has different needs than a lunch guest in the restaurant or an afternoon group using the meeting facilities. The venue's communication has to serve all of those audiences smoothly, in a space that spans several buildings and a real footprint.
The Challenges
Horapark identified a few specific challenges in how they wanted to communicate with visitors across the venue.
- Communicating across buildings. The facility's layout meant visitors needed clear, consistent information at multiple points, regardless of which building they were in. Keeping that information aligned without manual coordination wasn't realistic with traditional tools.
- Wayfinding for a layered space. With multiple amenities spread across the venue, visitors needed simple, visible guidance to navigate the space without confusion.
- Real-time updates that kept up with the day. Schedules, announcements, and event information needed to stay current throughout the day, not just at the start of one.
- Engaging content for a varied audience. The screens needed to do more than just deliver functional information. They needed to feel like part of the venue's atmosphere, something visitors actually wanted to engage with.
- Centralized control across multiple screens. Managing content separately on each screen wasn't going to work. The team needed a single platform to control everything from one place, easily and reliably.
What Horapark needed was a comprehensive digital signage solution that could handle communication, wayfinding, and content engagement across the venue, with the kind of central management that would actually save time rather than create more of it.
The Castit Solution
Castit fit Horapark's needs across every dimension, and the rollout was paired with a custom CMS built specifically for the venue's workflow.
- Screens, strategically placed. Castit deployed screens across the buildings, positioned at the points where visitors most need information, including entrances, reception, the kitchen, and the restaurant. Each screen plays a role in the visitor journey, from arriving and finding the right space to sitting down for a meal.
- A rich mix of content features. The screens use several Castit features to make the experience both informative and engaging. The Tickertape displays important announcements and news, keeping visitors informed throughout the day. The Clock feature helps visitors stay on schedule and never miss an appointment or event. Wayfinding functionality guides guests through the facility smoothly, reducing friction and confusion. YouTube integration brings engaging video content into the mix, adding atmosphere and interest beyond purely functional information.
- A custom CMS built for Horapark's workflow. Beyond the standard digital signage rollout, Horapark and Castit collaborated on a custom Content Management System, internally called the "nameboard." The custom CMS allows Horapark to update and manage content seamlessly across both the Castit screens and the digital reception system, eliminating the need for manual adjustments and giving the team a single, unified platform to work with.
- Centralized management across the venue. With Castit's platform, all screens are managed from one place, with content pushed instantly across the venue whenever it needs to change. The system is built to handle the kind of variety and pace a venue like Horapark deals with daily.
The Results and Impact
The rollout has transformed both the visitor experience and the day-to-day operation of the venue.
Smoother Communication
Easier Wayfinding
Faster Content Management
More Time for Hospitality
- Visitor communication has become noticeably smoother. Information, schedules, and announcements now reach visitors clearly and consistently across the entire venue, no matter which building they're in or which space they're using.
- Navigation through the venue has improved. Wayfinding features have reduced confusion and helped visitors move through the layered space with ease. New visitors find their way faster, and returning visitors get to where they want to be without effort.
- Content management has become dramatically faster. The centralized CMS, including the custom nameboard solution, has streamlined how content is updated across screens and the digital reception system. What used to require manual coordination now happens in a single, simple workflow, saving the staff valuable time.
- Operational efficiency has improved. Less time spent managing communication tools means more time available for the parts of the operation that directly serve visitors. The team has more bandwidth to focus on hospitality and guest experience rather than administrative upkeep.
- The visitor experience as a whole feels more polished. With smoother navigation, current information, and engaging visual content, the venue communicates the same level of thoughtfulness in its information design as it does in the rest of the space. The technology fits naturally into the calm, considered atmosphere Horapark is built around.
Digital Signage Works for Hospitality, Co-Working, and Multi-Use Venues
Horapark's experience reflects something true for hospitality and multi-use venues across the board: the visitor experience depends on smooth communication just as much as on the physical environment itself. A beautiful space with confusing wayfinding still feels harder to use than it should. A welcoming venue with outdated information still feels less polished than visitors expect. Digital signage closes those gaps, quietly and consistently.
For co-working spaces, hotels, conference venues, restaurants, multi-use facilities, and other hospitality environments, the value of digital signage is in combining wayfinding, real-time updates, branded content, and centralized management on a single platform. Visitors find their way faster. Information stays current without manual upkeep. Engaging content reinforces the atmosphere of the space. And when the platform supports custom integrations, like the nameboard solution Horapark uses, the system fits the venue's workflow rather than forcing the venue to fit the system.
If your hospitality, co-working, or multi-use venue is looking for a smoother way to communicate with visitors, improve navigation, and centralize content management, Castit is worth a closer look. The platform is built to scale across multiple buildings and audiences, supports custom integrations where needed, and is designed to be managed without specialist skills. Visit Castit to learn more, or reach out to talk through what a setup would look like for your venue.