Tactile guide strips at Hudiksvall Hospital
4 November 2024
Tactile handrails for an accessible entrance.
Hudiksvall Hospital is undergoing renovation and modernization. Houses have been demolished, rebuilt and redesigned, and parts of the huge project are slowly but surely coming to an end. A new main entrance has taken shape and we have installed tactile pathways leading from the entrance door to key destinations inside the building, including the reception.
The handrails we installed are part of the ERIKSBERG product range and are designed specifically for hospital environments. “Classic” handrails are around 280 mm long, 35 mm wide and 4 mm high, while ERIKSBERG are 57 mm wide and 1000 mm long strips – with a height of only 1.8 mm. This makes it easier to handle and maneuver, for example, hospital beds, wheelchairs and food trolleys.
The handrails are made of aluminum and have a colored coating with a non-slip surface. In this case, the floor was light colored, so to ensure a good contrast with the substrate, we chose black inserts.
Tactile handrails – how it works.
According to the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s recommendations and general advice, public premises should be provided with logical pathways that lead between selected target points. In open spaces such as station buildings, receptions and foyers, there should be coherent tactile and visual pathways. The paths should provide directional orientation and safely guide us in the right direction – past obstacles and to the destination points.
The tactile beacons should also be installed with different materials and a brightness contrast of at least 0.4 NCS – either lighter or darker than the surroundings. Read more about all the rules and recommendations for tactile beacons here.
