Tag Archives: Splash pads

Belarde Company Installs Stamped Concrete Bridge for Downtown Bellevue Park Inspiration Playground

The expansion and redesign of Bellevue’s Downtown Park was a long-time vision for civic leaders that has finally come to completion. Bomanite Licensee, Belarde Company installed a variety of stairs, sidewalks, and plazas throughout the 21-acre site as well as a key Bomanite architectural concrete feature in the newly designed Inspiration Playground.

Downtown Bellevue Park Designs Inspiration Playground using Bomanite Decorative Concrete from Belarde Company, Washington forming a Concrete Bridge for the Splash Pad The Bellevue Rotary Club was instrumental in helping to expand the original playground in the Downtown Park to include an innovative play space where kids of all ages and abilities can play and explore at their own pace. With the Design of Carol Henry from Design Concepts, the park is dedicated to fun, imagination and learning, and presents a universally accessible play experience that creates an overall truly Inspiration(al) Playground. The new playground offers interactive features that engage the senses, create inclusiveness and accommodate children of all abilities and their caregivers.

Downtown Bellevue Park Designs Inspiration Playground using Bomanite Decorative Concrete from Belarde Company, Washington forming a Concrete Bridge for the Splash Pad Belarde Company’s expertise lends to a creative small wooden bridge made of stamped concrete. The bridge planks and sides highlight the Bomacron “12” Boardwalk” pattern from the Bomanite Imprint Systems collection.  The installation of a horizontal concrete imprinted surface by itself is fairly straightforward.  However, constructing all the surfaces to replicate wooden planks required special attention to detail. Constructing the bridge required a monolithic horizontal and vertical concrete pour, strip color, imprint and finish process.   Even the ends of the ‘planks’ utilized the Bomanite system.  In addition, the bridge was embedded in the banks of an artificial stream water “Splash Pad” play area. Belarde Company constructed the stream bed using a hand-seeded multi-colored glass and aggregates system on its surface.

Downtown Bellevue Park Designs Inspiration Playground using Bomanite Decorative Concrete from Belarde Company, Washington forming a Concrete Bridge for the Splash Pad The project presented several challenges beyond the multiple surfaces of the bridge that included a very aggressive schedule. The owner, the City of Bellevue, was adamant that the project had to be completed before their annual Fourth of July Celebration which had been held at the Downtown Bellevue Park for over 30 years. Adding to the schedule constraints and to the inherent difficulties of installing various architectural concrete systems, Bellevue recorded its wettest winter ever! The Belarde Company team built a temporary tent structure over the bridge’s work area to adapt to the rain ensuring that a high-quality project would be delivered on time. By working closely with the City of Bellevue and Design Concepts, Belarde Company’s experience, attention to detail, and ability to coordinate, ensured the satisfaction of all parties and more importantly, a unique playground that the children visiting this unique interactive play area in Bellevue can enjoy for years to come.

To learn more about the Bellevue Park: https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/parks/bellevue-downtown-park

Watch the inspiration behind the design: https://youtu.be/KEP-FtwFLOo

Edwards Concrete Installs Bomanite Decorative Concrete for Race Track Beach Themed Tanger Outlets Daytona

The future of physical shopping is about creating a compelling destination and a location specific experience to engage the public to generate return visitation. Tanger Outlets Daytona, working with project designer, EDSA and decorative concrete craftsmen, Edwards Concrete Company provided just that! Bomanite Licensee, Edwards Concrete, with their expertise in the decorative concrete field helped to create an ultimate shopping experience that provided the guests with the feeling of spending the day at the racetrack with a beachy vibe. Working for four months building out walkways, major thorough fares, plazas, outdoor living areas and a splash pad playground along with thousands of feet of decorative concrete curbing, Edwards Concrete pulled out all the stops to transform the 38-acre site design into a contemporary social gathering mega shopping mall.

The project designer EDSA has a winning track record for planning, landscape architecture, themed environment design and urban design. Breaking the mold of a traditional outlet mall, Tanger Outlets Daytona was designed to provide a fresh and unique appeal to their customers. The aesthetic styling is a combination of beach-industrial and mid-century modern theme with brand name stores located in the interior space that are connected by the outdoor walkways and plaza spaces inspired by the Daytona International Speedway that lies just a few short miles away.

With a circular racetrack pattern on the outside perimeter there are four standout entry plazas of ocean, beach, industrial and Floridian forest themes showcasing unique decorative concrete paving installed by Edwards Concrete, with planters and lighting that lead into an interior checkerboard pattern of sponge finished two tone colored concrete walkways resembling the racetrack infield.

A Bomanite Exposed Aggregate step plaza with light box seating and handicap ramp was created with embedded seashells to provide a reflective nature of light. Common gathering spaces, “pit stops”, create points of convergence; media lounge, two outdoor living rooms, three cabanas, lighted sitting swings, and shading trellis contribute to the social shopping experience.  To facilitate the beach theme Bomanite imprinted concrete in a Bomacron Boardwalk pattern was incorporated into several of the lounge areas as well as common walking areas along the front of retail shops. In addition, a kid worthy splash pad playground and central water fountain support the family-focused atmosphere. Edwards Concrete used several ocean inspired blues of concrete colorant for the surface area of the splash pad and sandblasted the defining bands in beige to mimic the water and sandy beach vibe.

Decorative concrete paving and flooring are becoming more and more commonplace in commercial and retail facilities such as this themed shopping mall for its versatility in design, long-term durability, low-maintenance, weather-resistant features and environmentally friendly attributes. Not only did Edwards Concrete display their craftsmanship with Bomanite Decorative Concrete for multiple applications within the scope of the project, they met the grand opening deadline of this beachy racetrack theme inspired mall even through Hurricane Matthew that hit during the installation. Tanger Outlets 44th center in Daytona Beach was up and running on their targeted date offering a world-class shopping themed experience for local, national and international visitors.

Awards: Bomanite Imprint Systems Over 12,000 Sq. Ft – Gold Award 2017 and ASCC Decorative Concrete Council 2018 Award – Multiple Applications, Over 5,000 Square Feet, Second Place

Work completed by Edwards Concrete “BY THE NUMBERS”:

  • 16,406 man hours and 119 workdays
  • 187,638 square feet of hardscape concrete
  • 4,367 lineal feet of decorative curbs and bands
  • 41,798 square feet of gray paver bases
  • 132,091 square feet of sponged finished walkways in a checkerboard pattern
  • 7,011 square feet of Bomacron Boardwalk stamped concrete
  • 2,890 square feet larger than life pattern of a scanner barcode
  • 550 square feet exposed aggregate seashell step plaza with a handicap ramp
  • 1,872 square feet of exposed aggregate seashell bands
  • 3,838 lineal feet of planter curbs 399 lineal feet of tree pit curbs
  • 1,426 square feet splash pad finished with 529 lineal feet of sandblasted bands