UBC & Musqueam crosswalk

A feature crosswalk at University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall, built with UBC and Musqueam: the two crests woven together in TrafficPatterns, acknowledging that the campus stands on unceded Musqueam territory.

At University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall, the crosswalk carries the crests of UBC and Musqueam woven together rather than set side by side. The design came out of conversations between the university and the Musqueam Indian Band, and weaving the two was deliberate: every pedestrian who crosses is reminded that the campus stands on unceded Musqueam territory. The brief to Square One was to render that design so it reads cleanly from a driver's sightline and holds its colours under BC sun.

The crossing is TrafficPatterns preformed thermoplastic. The sheets come pre-cut from the artwork; the crew heats the asphalt and the sheet together and the material fuses into the road surface as it cools, so the marking is part of the pavement rather than something sitting on it. The manufacturer publishes the sheet at 125 mil with anti-skid elements throughout, made to the owner's marking standard, and open to traffic within minutes of application.

The photographs show the crossing in blue, green and gold at the foot of the UBC letters, with an express bus rolling across it, and a close view of the salmon in white and grey at the centre of the design. A university or First Nations partner planning a crossing of this kind should ask for the artwork to be prepared as cut thermoplastic sheets, and for colour and placement to be walked through before the install day.

Read the full story: UBC & Musqueam crosswalk: two crests, one surface