Gottlieb Paludan Architects developed a tactile paving concept for DSB which has guided the blind and visually impaired in public spaces since 2004.

The tactile paving concept stems from a development project financed by the Danish Ministry of Transport which aimed to establish a standard design norm for outdoor tactile paving at stations and on streets traversing property ownership.
The Intactila concept is a tactile paving system that is laid flush with other surfacing. The concept consists of two types of tiles: the attention tile and the guiding tile. The attention tile has a knobbed surface and is used for areas requiring attention. The guiding tile has a surface with two to four raised longitudinal ‘fingers’ and is used to guide the blind and visually impaired from one point or attention area to another.
The tiles are 16.4–30 x 30 cm in frost-proof high-strength concrete with a rough, uniform, non-skid surface as a standard, but are also available in cast iron, granite, epoxy and rubber. The tiles are laid in a colour which contrasts with the surrounding surfacing.

The Danish Society for the Blind and Disabled People’s Organisations (Danish Council of Organisations of Disabled People) have tested and approved the tactile paving concept, which has now been selected as the standard for DSB, S-trains and Banedanmark.

Photos: Gottlieb Paludan Architects