Municipalities

Laneways have a huge amount of untapped potential. While currently acting primarily as utilitarian service corridors, with strategic upgrades they can become fully-integrated and multi-purpose parts of public space networks

Introduction

Many cities and municipalities in Canada face the same problem these days. How can they effectively use their budgets in a way that residents appreciate? There are public works projects but often they require enormous budgets and a significant timeframe. That is where decorative street paving and stamped asphalt can make a big difference. Easy to install and visually stunning, they make an immediate impression on residents. If you are considering a high impact, economically efficient and quick way to improve the local community, consider hardscaping.

Not only does decorative street paving help improve the visual environment but it can also add a local touch that residents will take notice of. With decorative street paving, especially in high traffic areas, you are providing a visual experience to everyone who passes by. Street paving and decorative stamped asphalt beyond beautifying urban areas and roads, these improvements can also help demonstrate unique local cultures and communities.

The problem

The city of Toronto was looking to expand access to public spaces and found that by transforming laneways, they could create more access to safe, appealing and healthy public spaces for residents. The result was the Laneway Project.

The reallocation of street space to public gathering space:

✅ Reduce barriers to participation in public life
✅ Instill attachment to and value of public space
✅ Foster culture shift toward more equitable and inclusive public space
✅ Laneways are perfect for this as they can be easily integrated into public spaces

Stakeholders: Laneway project (non-profit) consisting of urban planners, designers and placemakers, along with the city of Toronto.

Requirements

After discussing this with all various stakeholders. HUBSS representatives understood that the following were very important performance indicators for the success of the project.

Inviting & friendly

Urban areas should look inviting and friendly

Maintain functionality

Streets need to still preserve their functionality as occasional access for maintenance

Durability

The transformed landscape needs to be able to endure a lot of foot traffic on a frequent or constant basis

Weather resistant

After being changed, the landscape should be able to endure all the weather conditions present in the city

Low maintenance

It should require little to no maintenance and last for an extended period of time

At HUBSS, we understand that projects like these are critical to the soul of a city. Residents associate hardscape designs with the feeling and ambiance of an area. They also are a showcase for what matters to a locale.

Solution

Municipalities like Toronto are looking to rejuvenate urban cores and increase access to public spaces for high impact, cost efficient solutions. Hardscaping presents the perfect balance between the need for long-term durability with low maintenance costs while also creating inviting urban hardscapes.

That is why we worked with the Laneway project to implement StreetBond150® Advanced Coatings for Asphalt & Concrete for the solution.

For high traffic areas, any coating needs to be hard enough to withstand the heavy foot traffic while also being flexible enough to not crack. Simply: if coatings are too flexible, they risk prematurely wearing; too smooth being dangerously slippery StreetBond150® Advanced Coatings are specially formulated to satisfy all these conditions while also providing the color variety and diversity of application formats required to create inviting urban hardscapes.

The result:

A beautiful installation in the Leslieville laneway and many other ongoing projects with StreetBond. The Leslieville installation is inviting to local residents and provides an open public space in which families and children also feel welcomed to. The area requires little upkeep but has a dramatic and immediately gripping presence with engaging shapes and deep, rich colours.

What's next?

Learn more about streetbond® on our product page

Municipalities

Introduction

The problem

Requirements

Solution

The result:

What's next?

Products

Applications

Company

HUB Surface Systems (East)

HUB Surface Systems (West)