What the Market Wants

Looking at some recent noteworthy surveys, increasing interest in outdoor spaces and amenities is very much confirmed.

In the National Association of Home Builders’ survey “What Home Buyers Really Want” released in 2021, the percentage of buyers rating a patio as essential or desirable was an outstanding 82%.³

Multifamily Design+Construction’s “2021 Multifamily Amenities” survey lists the top desired outdoor amenities in the following order of preference: fire pit/grill, lounge area, rooftop terrace/deck, pool, garden/walking path, and outdoor kitchen.⁴

“Both the Baby Boomer and Millennial renter segments are demanding cozy outdoor spaces to take in a sunrise or sunset. Creating outdoor spaces for planned community events like wine tasting or movie nights is especially attractive to the up-and-coming Gen Z renter segment,” Hrivnak explains. “They are ditching the evening indoor TV routine and opting for outdoor gatherings to create and share social media moments.”

Along with these trends is a significant economic tie-in. For business owners in mixed-use spaces, they are looking for office spaces with amenities to contribute to employee well-being, reinforce a corporate brand identity integrating work and life, and contribute to a creative and collaborative environment conducive to better business. “Commercial building owners now understand the importance of shared amenities as an attraction for high-quality office tenants, improving their tenant retention, and increasing the overall building value,” states an American Society of Landscape Architects continuing-education unit titled “Trends in Urban Outdoor Amenity Spaces.”

On the residential side, escalating housing costs are driving more demand for multi-family housing options. As identified by Michael Gucks, Senior Economist, ConstructConnect, there has been a shift post-pandemic in housing permits data. He explains that sweeping interest rate increases, coupled with substantial home prices and mortgage payments has created a divergence in the single family and multi-family markets. He notes that the "the August 2022 multi-family permit count marks the highest, seasonally adjusted reading since at least 1997. In contrast, the latest single-family permits reading is the second-lowest permits reading since the start of the pandemic".⁵

While an increase in the number of Multi-family builds will help in the creation of more affordable housing, the demand for housing is still outpacing inventory levels. This is driving people to rent smaller apartments. In fact, many studios and one-bedroom apartments are up to 10 percent smaller, according to an analysis by RENT-Cafe using Yardi Matrix data, a comprehensive commercial real estate data analysis system. ⁶

“These ever-shrinking housing units continue to push the demand for amenity spaces that expand the residents’ living experience beyond the walls of their units,” states James Szymanski, AIA, NCAR, LEED AP, associate, The Architectural Team, Boston. “Especially in cities and urban environments where density is constantly increasing, outdoor space is vital to multifamily or mixed-use success.”

That said, it is important to understand that incorporating these spaces should not be approached as a quick fix to check off an amenity list, but rather considered with thought and deliberation. This includes selecting sustainable, long-lasting, high-quality products such as pavers that blend into the overall aesthetic and provide a solid base for supporting assorted amenities.

For example, some paver products deliver a very high compressive strength and are actually stronger than pour-in-place concrete and bituminous asphalt. In order to specify this class of products, designers should look for pavers that meet the ASTM C936: Standard Specification for Solid Concrete Interlocking Paving Units.

Ultimately, whether these areas are at-grade, part of waterfront wharf structures, built on rooftops, or planned as a central courtyard, Szymanski says that outdoor gathering areas are part of an overall package that developers, commercial tenants, and residents of a multifamily property have come to expect. He adds that a number of local zoning ordinances dictate a minimum amount of open space, so these designs ultimately becomes an integral part of the entitlement process.

“Many people, especially younger people, are spending less time at home and favor eating out to cooking, etc., meaning they are spending more time out and about instead of inside their apartment’s four walls,” agrees Gabriela Cañamar-Clark, PLA, partner and designer, LandDesign, Alexandria, Virginia. “For these people, growing in number among renters and buyers, access to outdoor amenities is a meaningful value-add.”

On the commercial side, mixed-use properties that successfully engage patrons also do better from a retail perspective. “Because these [amenity-filled] spaces often increase the length of the consumers visit, this can increase the revenue generated by their visit,” Kikuta says.

In fact, according to PathIntelligence, by increasing what is called “dwell time” to just 1 percent, this leads to an average 1.3 percent increase in sales.⁷

Another facet is successfully programming these exterior spaces. This might involve live music, comedy nights, fashion shows, skating rinks, and/or fitness classes. With a variety of regularly occurring events, this keeps these spaces fresh and attracts more visitors.

Ensuring these programmable spaces are visually appealing and attractive to the visitors is easily accomplished using the wide variety of styles and finishes available in unit pavers and slabs.

THE PRESERVE AT OAKVILLE

In Oakville, Ontario’s largest town and part of the Greater Toronto Area, Mattamy Developments, working together with the Town of Oakville, needed to pave the walkway separating the back of townhouse dwellings and live-work units, and an urban stormwater management pond. But the trick was executing this in an aesthetic, well-designed manner that would preserve the development’s natural heritage, features, and views.

An extended urban walking trail/promenade separates townhomes and a mixed-use area from a stormwater management pond at Mattany Developments in Oakville, Ontario.

To help design this new urban trail linking 35 rear-lane townhomes and a block of live-work units, NAK Design Strategies helped plan, design, and oversee the construction of a pedestrian “Promenade.”

While asphalt would have been the traditional choice, NAK wanted something more aesthetic. “Since the vision for the pond was to have buildings front the pond directly, we thought that pavers would provide a more inviting look and feel that would be perceived as pedestrian realm by the public,” explains Leigh Lichtenberg, project manager, NAK Design Strategies, Toronto.

In order to delineate “travel” and “rest” areas along the route, alternating patterns with two colors were incorporated into the design. The pavers were also found to be an affordable, durable, and low-maintenance option.

While the location presented access, maintenance, and urban design challenges, close coordination between the landscape architect, developer, and City enabled the team to successfully execute the project.

The Must-Have Roof Deck

As previously noted, roof decks are very popular in both multifamily and mixed-use commercial spaces today.

“Roof decks are the largest trend we have seen lately, even to extent where buildings that were designed without have been adding them retroactively during late stages of design or even while still in construction,” observes John Moores, director of mixed use, NELSON, Atlanta.

A typical undeveloped rooftop has little to no value for tenants. By building up the space with roof deck slabs and pedestals, the rooftop is transformed into a destination, potentially hosting a myriad of activities with fabulous views.

“In addition to offering 360-degree sweeping views, one great thing about roof decks is the ‘found space’ aspect of turning a previously unoccupied area into a treasured amenity,” Cañamar-Clark says.

Being located on top of the building and separated from the activity of the street not only provides a spectacular vantage point but also creates a unique space for those tenants that is removed from normal daily routine.

Architectural Slabs

To help build up these spaces, architectural slabs offer a beautiful, sturdy base for rooftop activities and amenities. Slabs come in a variety of types, including concrete, natural stone, porcelain, and wood.

Concrete slab tiles come in wide range of sizes, colors, and finishes. For instance, multiple surface finishes can be applied, such as standard, smooth, brushed, exposed aggregate, blasted, speckled, mottled, and flamed.

Meeting high-performance standards, concrete slab tile’s modulus of rupture (i.e., tensile/bending strength) is an average of 725 psi. Similarly, their height tolerances are allowed to +/- 3 millimeters. This ensures uniformity to the slabs and supports easier installation, as the uniform height or thickness translates to less time required for installation. While concrete slab weight varies depending on the slab thickness, they range from 19 pounds per square foot for a 1-inch slab to 46 pounds per square foot for a 4-inch slab.

Even though slabs and tiles are traditionally used on the rooftop, traditional concrete unit pavers used on the ground are becoming a common choice for rooftop spaces where an open-graded granular base can be used. This trend is enabling designers to match the ground-level amenity spaces with the roof area, thereby creating a nicer flow and lending a greater continuity to the property.

Natural stone tiles come in three classification categories—igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary—and the most popular stone types are granite, sandstone, and limestone. A variety of colors and textures are offered with sizes ranging from 12 inches by 24 inches up to 24 inches by 36 inches. Finishes include polished, honed, water jet, sandblasted, leathered, flamed, combed, riven, and antiqued.

A natural stone slab paves the rooftop pool deck at 99 Davisville in Toronto.

Similarly, porcelain tiles also provide a wide selection of colors and finishes and are commonly offered in 24-inch by 24-inch squares, 16-inch by 48-inch rectangles, and a 16-inch by 32-inch rectangles. Offering a uniform thickness of ⁵⁄₈ inch, this low profile makes porcelain ideally suited as overlay products, particularly where installations have height or weight constraints. For example, the tiles can be used as an overlay application on new and existing concrete decks, porches, balconies, stairs, and wood decks. Finishes include stone finish, and wood grain finish and edge treatments can be specified as sawn or pressed.

As for wood decking units or panels, they are usually square and have minimal size variations. Structural wood tiles are also available to provide roof decking with a different kind of texture. The wood decking panels have hardiness ratings ranging from 1,630 to 3,680, and come in 24-inch square panels and 24-inch by 48-inch rectangular panels that weigh 48 pounds with a Class A fire rating.