Oxford Townhomes, New Westminster: decorative driveway and hardscape surfaces

The Oxford Townhomes development in New Westminster received decorative asphalt surface work: stamped and coated driveway and pathway surfaces for a strata residential community that prioritized a finished, premium appearance at the common areas and individual unit driveways.

New Westminster is a dense urban municipality where residential developments exist in close proximity, and the exterior finish of a development is visible to pedestrians and neighbouring properties. Getting the surface right at Oxford Townhomes contributed to the project's visual presentation in its urban context.

What went in

Square One's photographs of the Oxford strata laneway, filed in our driveways gallery, show what "stamped and coated" means on this site. A charcoal StreetPrint® band, imprinted in an irregular stone pattern, runs the full width of the laneway between two rows of three-storey townhomes, with a pale border along each edge. A second band sits further up the lane. The bands mark the transition from the public street into the strata's private drive. One of the frames was taken in the rain, which is the honest test for a New Westminster laneway: the pattern reads as clearly wet as it does dry.

Strata development surface specifications

Strata developments have a particular dynamic when it comes to surface specifications: the common area surfaces are maintained collectively, which means the initial specification choice has long-term cost implications for the strata corporation.

Decorative asphalt provides a strong argument for strata applications:

• Lower long-term maintenance compared to unit pavers: one continuous surface, so there are no joints to heave, no sand to wash out and nothing for moss to take hold in
• Consistent appearance across all common areas: no variation in material weathering that creates a visible patchwork over time
• Faster installation during the original construction phase, because the pattern is imprinted into asphalt the paving contractor has already placed
• Recoat flexibility: when the colour coat eventually reaches the end of its service life, it is refreshed rather than replaced, which is far less disruptive than pulling up pavement

For the Oxford Townhomes strata corporation, the specification represents a combination of initial visual quality and long-term cost management.

The systems

Square One installs both products; the figures are the manufacturer's. StreetPrint is an asphalt imprinting system: a heated template is pressed into the asphalt so the brick, cobble or slate pattern is built into the surface rather than painted onto it. The manufacturer publishes a 10–20 year service life for it, a slip-resistant texture, and a surface that is snowplow and de-icing salt safe. StreetBond® supplies the colour: a water-based acrylic pavement coating with an anti-skid aggregate, more than 50 standard colours plus custom mixing, and an 8+ year life cycle that the manufacturer describes as refreshed rather than replaced. The product pages carry the manufacturer's full specifications: StreetPrint and StreetBond, both installed under our stamped asphalt service.

For a strata council or developer

• On a new build, the stamped and coated scope belongs in the paving contractor's schedule: the asphalt is placed and compacted first, then imprinted and sealed in colour. On an existing strata, the same finish goes over the asphalt you already have when it is sound; the site visit decides whether the surface will take a pattern.
• Decide what the pattern is for. A threshold band at the entry, as at Oxford, does a different job from a fully patterned apron at every garage. Both are in the driveways gallery.
• Ask for the colour and pattern by name and keep the record, so a future recoat matches what was installed.

For BC developers and strata corporations weighing driveway and common-area surface improvements, send a photo of the lane 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.