Accessibility in Viborg / 2012

While working at Public Architects I was the project leader in a competition to find new ways to improve the accessibility for everyone in the historical Danish city of Viborg. The project was awarded a 2nd prize and was developed in collaboration with SLA and 2+1 Ideas Agency.

The site was in the old historical part of the city center around the cathedral with narrow streets in hilly surroundings with old pavements. The area is very charming and attracts lots of tourists every year, but for many users it is very hard to get around.

How steep the hills were and the conditions of the pavements were mapped after a very systematic analysis of the site. By doing that it was made possible to illustrate where the main problems were and solutions for every location were thought out as part of an overall design manual with high respect for the historic surroundings. The financial costs were evaluated in relationship with the influence the change would do to getting around because it was not possible to do all the suggested changes. By selecting the actual changes it was important to create connected routes and at the same time lead the visitors to the interesting historical spots.

Besides from the physical changes we suggested to develop an online application which would make it easier to find the way around the city center when you were at a certain location and also in the planning process before getting to the city.