Confederation Park water feature, Burnaby: StreetBond150 surface revitalization

The water play feature at Confederation Park in Burnaby was revitalized to a design by Space2place landscape architecture, an installation using StreetBond® 150 that presented an exciting design opportunity for the project team.

Confederation Park is a significant Burnaby park with heavy summer use. The water play feature draws families from across the area during the peak season, with children running barefoot across the surface for hours at a time in conditions of full summer UV and constant water saturation.

StreetBond 150 for water play surfaces

StreetBond 150 is our preferred specification for spray pad and water play applications. The product is formulated for environments where the surface will be perpetually wet, subject to intense UV exposure during operating hours, and trafficked by barefoot users, a combination that eliminates many coating systems from consideration.

The key performance requirements for a water play surface:

Slip resistance: children running on a wet surface need consistent traction. StreetBond 150 incorporates a fine aggregate finish that maintains grip even on saturated surfaces.

Colour stability: the visual design of a water play area is part of the experience. Colours that fade to grey within a season undermine the investment. StreetBond 150's UV-stable formulation holds saturation through full BC summer conditions.

Comfort: the finish has to grip without being rough on bare feet, which is a matter of the aggregate and how it is embedded, and something we set for spray pad work specifically.

The system

Square One installs StreetBond under our decorative coatings service; 150 is the standard coating, and StreetBond SR is the solar-reflective version, which keeps a surface cooler underfoot. 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 that ends in a recoat rather than a replacement. The StreetBond product page has the specification.

Space2place and the design process

The Confederation Park revitalization benefited from Space2place's design expertise: the colour and pattern layout was developed to create a play environment that's engaging for children, not just a re-coated version of what was there before. We installed to the designed specification, with surface prep and colour application matched to the project's creative brief.

Space2place is the same practice that led the community-designed Connaught Park spray park renewal in Kitsilano, Vancouver, and Confederation Park is one of three Burnaby spray pads in our record, with Keswick Water Park, a StreetBond 150 recoat, and Wesburn Park, installed in October 2023. The parks and paths gallery holds the photographs.

For a parks department renewing a water feature

• Treat the recoat as a redesign. A renewal is the moment to change the layout, as Space2place did here, rather than to repeat the old one in fresh colour.
• Match the aggregate to bare feet. Ask for the spray pad finish specifically; a court finish grips harder than a pad needs.
• Plan the closure before the season. A pad coated in the shoulder months cures through the closure and opens on schedule; one coated in July loses the summer.

For municipalities and parks operators specifying water play and spray pad surface improvements across BC, send a photo of the pad 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.