Bowen Island community walkway: StreetBond public art at Snug Cove

Snug Cove is the heart of Bowen Island: the ferry landing, the commercial area, the place where the island community gathers. We were engaged to install a public art feature at the cove using StreetBond® 150 coatings on the walkway surface.

The brief was straightforward in its intent and demanding in its execution: create something that represents the community, holds up to Bowen Island's marine climate, and reads as considered public art rather than decorative maintenance.

What the photograph shows

The lede photograph is a close look at one stretch of the walkway. Ovals of colour (yellow, green, blue and a warm grey) are scattered across the asphalt like stepping stones, and in one blue oval a seal looks up at a speech bubble beside it that reads "I wish this were a water slide!" The joke is the point: each colour in the design stands for part of the island community, and the local wildlife asks the questions. The lettering and the seal are as crisp as the ovals, which is the difference between coating and paint. The project record holds a second, wider frame of the walkway.

Community branding in surface design

The colour palette for this installation was developed with the community context in mind. Each of the custom colours in the design represents something specific to the island: its character, its natural environment, its identity as a distinct community accessible only by ferry.

This is the category of work we call community branding: surfaces that do more than protect the pavement underneath. The finished walkway at Snug Cove is the first thing visitors see arriving from the ferry, and the daily backdrop for residents who walk it year-round.

StreetBond 150 in a marine environment

Bowen Island's proximity to the water means any surface system has to perform in salt air, high humidity, and the freeze-thaw cycles that BC island climates deliver. StreetBond 150 is our specification for these conditions: the formulation is designed for outdoor Canadian applications, and the aggregate embed provides slip resistance on a surface that will be wet for months at a time.

Application is direct to the existing asphalt and concrete substrate. The prep work (cleaning, profiling, priming where required) is the foundation of a coating that lasts. We mobilized our crew to Bowen Island via ferry for this install, which we do regularly for island communities across BC.

The system

Square One installs StreetBond under our decorative coatings service; 150 is the standard coating, and StreetBond SR is the solar-reflective version. The manufacturer's published facts: a water-based acrylic pavement coating that bonds to asphalt and to concrete, with the appropriate primer for each; more than 50 standard colours plus custom mixing; an anti-skid aggregate for wet surfaces; a UV-stable finish; and an 8+ year life cycle, refreshed rather than replaced. The StreetBond product page has the specification, and the public art gallery shows the coating carrying artwork on other civic sites.

For an island municipality or community group

• Design in colours, then in words. A palette that stands for the place carries the meaning; the captions and characters are what make people stop and read it.
• Plan the ferry into the schedule. Crew, rig and material travel together; a job on an island is planned around sailings, and the site visit is the time to settle that.
• Mix the substrates deliberately. StreetBond goes onto asphalt and concrete alike, so a design can run from the path onto a concrete landing without a break, provided each gets its primer.

For island municipalities, First Nations communities and community groups planning public art surfaces, send a photo of the walkway and a postal code to office@squareonepaving.com, call 604-612-6209, or use the contact form. We come out, look, and put a written quote together.