Tessellation Options for Pavers

Single Regular Shape

• The most obvious tessellations are those in which one regular polygon repeats. The only regular polygons that tessellate are triangles, squares, parallelograms and hexagons. A cobblestone road is a very basic example of a tessellation of small square pavers. The advantage of layouts made of a single regular shape is they are very easy to design and the component pavers are readily available. Using varied colors is especially beneficial for adding variety to these layouts.

Single Irregular Shape

• An irregular shape is a shape with sides of different lengths, like a kite shape, rectangle or isosceles triangle. While all irregular shapes do not tessellate, there is a technique to make any four-sided shape form a repeating pattern. Lay one paver, then to find the position for any adjacent paver, rotate the shape around the midpoint of the edge the pavers share. Alternately, rectangles can tessellate in a stair step, basket weave or basic brick wall pattern.

Multiple Polygons

• Combining different shapes opens up a wide world of possibilities for repeating pavement patterns. An easy way to design this style of pavement is to choose one shape you like, lay it out in a repeating pattern, then simply cut or buy pavers in the shape of the negative spaces left between your starting shapes. Octagons with squares and hexagons with triangles create classic pavement patterns, and a hexagon with a square against each side and triangles filling the gaps nearly creates an illusion of overlapping circles.

Unusual and Custom Shapes

• There are many custom pavers available on the market that can create tessellations that go far beyond simple shapes. Some are simply curved or angular interlocking shapes, while others are quite elaborate, even mimicking the famous animal tessellations of M. C. Escher. Other patterns use fairly basic shapes to create a larger illusion, like using L-shaped pavers to create the impression of interlocking squares. Local suppliers should have a stock or catalog of custom pavers you can explore for inspiration.