How Cadillac Fairview used TrafficPatternsXD to create an inviting, heritage-inspired streetscape at Fairview Park in Kitchener that combines the look of brick with high-traffic durability and universal accessibility.
How TrafficPatternsXD helped with a high-traffic commercial parking lot at Fairview Park in Kitchener.
Planning for large scale retail requires precise plans to control customer flow. In many locations, this also means planning how customers arrive and leave. The more convenient and well planned the development, the more likely customers are to frequently return to a commercial development.
Introduction
With the damage that COVID-19 has done to traditional retail, every detail matters. At the same time, consumers are becoming very sensitive to environmentally friendly designs.
This is where TrafficPatternsXD fits: a long-lasting, environmentally friendly surface with a range of designs, at a cost that works for commercial businesses looking to bring in more foot traffic.
Making retail areas more consumer friendly and inviting is critical. Even as more consumers are incorporating e-commerce, many consumers are using a hybrid approach. Customer behaviour like BOPIS (Buy online, pickup in store) along with shopping at a storefront and then purchasing online are important. A report by the ICSC shows that opening a retail store increases local website traffic by 37% the following quarter.
The Problem
Fairview Park development wanted a streetscape that would be an inviting outdoor space, weaving together retail, office, restaurants and entertainment.
Stakeholders: Cadillac Fairview, Colliers International, Petroff Partnership Architects, Roy Higgs International, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (portfolio owners), Kitchener Municipality
Requirements
After discussing this with the stakeholders, HUB understood that the following mattered most to the project:
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Design | Urban areas should look inviting and friendly |
| Durability | Durability both from surface traffic and from large differences in weather patterns from winter to summer |
| Sustainability | The new surface needs to stand up to constant foot traffic |
Solution
Cadillac Fairview relied on TrafficPatternsXD for the custom design and for walkways shared with the parking lots.
TrafficPatternsXD has an anti-skid surface, which gives pedestrians grip in wet or snowy conditions. It is stamped into one continuous asphalt pavement, so there is no unevenness, and the surface is accessible whatever a person's mobility.
The Result
The area was designed to combine traditional brick materials with more contemporary designs as a tribute to the city's Victorian-era industrial past. TrafficPatternsXD did this with a preformed thermoplastic whose bevelled pattern recalls brick-lined streets, without brick's maintenance costs.
