Case study · Calella · Barcelona
The Municipal Swimming Pool Dorly Strobl, read aloud.
As part of Calella's rollout of new tourist and heritage signage, the City Council is installing information plaques with NaviLens codes on its municipal facilities. At the Dorly Strobl Municipal Swimming Pool, the plaque tells the story of the facility and of Dorly Strobl herself, read aloud in 42 languages.
Calella
Calella City Council (Barcelona)
1986
Year the facility opened
42
Languages with voice readout
+30 m
Reading distance of the codes
The client
Ajuntament de Calella
— Piscina Municipal Dorly Strobl
Calella is a coastal town in the Maresme (Barcelona) known for its heritage and tourism. As part of a tourist-signage renewal project co-funded by the EU Next Generation Funds and the Generalitat de Catalunya, the City Council is replacing plaques and totems with accessible elements using NaviLens codes across all municipal facilities.
The Piscina Municipal Dorly Strobl is the city's flagship aquatic facility. It opened in 1986 and has become a key venue for sport in Calella and the home of Club Natació Calella, founded in 1988.
The plaque bears the name of Dorly Strobl, a key figure of the club: originally from Austria and arriving in Calella in 1967, she was a founding member, coach and director, and president of Club Natació Calella between 1999 and 2011. Over the years, the pool has been a place of training and learning for generations of Calella residents and neighbours from across the Maresme.
§ The challenge
So anyone can read the facility.
- 01
Local history stuck in printed text
The pool carries decades of local history: the building, the club, and above all Dorly Strobl herself. All of it lived only on the printed plaque — in Catalan — and was out of reach for blind and low-vision users or visitors who do not read Catalan.
- 02
Outdoor plaques across many locations
The signage project covers facility plaques, interpretive totems, and street and square panels all over Calella — from the Tomàs Claramunt sports complex to Platja de Garbí or the lighthouse. It needed a robust solution, readable from a distance and without touching the installation.
- 03
Diverse audiences
Calella welcomes visitors from across Europe. The solution had to work for residents, schoolchildren, international tourists and people with visual disabilities, using the same plaque and without changing the CALELLA institutional look.
§ The solution
One plaque. One code. 42 languages.
The new CALELLA institutional plaque integrates a NaviLens code next to the printed text. Pointing the free NaviLens GO app from the pavement or car park — even from several metres away and on the move — the plaque is read aloud in the language of the phone.
The content narrates the history of the facility, of Club Natació Calella and of Dorly Strobl's career, mirroring the information visible on the plaque. The solution fits the municipal design and requires no changes to the fence or the building.
§ Timeline
From project to live plaque.
- Project
Renewing tourist signage
Calella City Council launches the renewal and reinforcement of its full tourist signage: new pedestrian direction signs, interpretive lecterns, information points and renewal of municipal facility plaques with accessible codes.
- Rollout
CALELLA plaques with NaviLens on facilities
The plaques on municipal facilities are being replaced with the new blue CALELLA model, each carrying its NaviLens code. Alongside the pool, they are rolled out at the Tomàs Claramunt Municipal Sports Complex, the Chapel of Sant Quirze i Santa Julita, Platja de Garbí and the Lighthouse (El Far), among others.
- Today
Accessible Dorly Strobl pool
The plaque at the Piscina Municipal Dorly Strobl, mounted on the access fence, lets anyone hear the history of the facility, of Club Natació Calella and of Dorly Strobl in 42 languages using the free NaviLens GO app.
§ Results
An accessible layer over public signage.
0 works
Plaque installed over the existing fence, no changes to the building
Voice + 42 languages
History of the facility read in the phone's language
CALELLA
Consistent with the new institutional signage design
§ Galería
Other spots in the Calella rollout
The same CALELLA plaque with NaviLens code is being installed on facilities, beaches and heritage buildings across the city.
CALELLA totem at Platja de Garbí, with NaviLens code next to the seafront promenade. 
Interpretive totem for El Far, Calella's lighthouse and city symbol. 
Plaque at the Tomàs Claramunt Municipal Sports Complex, mounted on a Corten steel panel. 
Plaque at the Chapel of Sant Quirze i Santa Julita, on the façade in the old town.
§ And your destination?
Your destination can also guide in 42 languages.
Tell us about your routes, offices, monuments or galleries. We’ll show you how NaviLens would make your offer accessible —with comparable cases.
