Architectural Porous Pavement

The ground plane as a design decision — not an afterthought.

EcoPave™ EP-200 is for landscapes where movement, comfort, and atmosphere are treated as design outcomes — not byproducts of engineering.

In considered landscapes, the path does more than connect one point to another. It sets the tempo of a visit, frames what people see, and shapes how they feel in the space. EcoPave™ is built around that belief: the surface underfoot is part of the experience, not just a layer above the subgrade.

Instead of reading as a “product” on top of the site, EcoPave™ becomes a continuous, permeable ground plane — soft to walk on, visually quiet, and tuned to the long rhythms of planting, water, and people.

For qualified projects, we ship a field-grade sample and align with your team on fit, intent, and expectations before anything is installed.

EcoPave texture
Belongs Where

For landscapes led by intention, not by efficiency.

EcoPave™ is deliberately selective. It belongs in places where the ground plane is expected to support identity, ease, and care — not just traffic.

Curated landscapes and collections
Gardens and arboreta where paths wind through living collections and are expected to feel as resolved as the planting plan around them.

Interpretive and cultural environments
Zoos, nature centers, and outdoor exhibits where groups slow down, gather, and return — and where surfaces must feel natural, accessible, and calm at the same time.

Institutional and campus grounds
Museums, universities, and civic spaces that treat outdoor circulation as part of their public face, not just the space between buildings.

Quiet, high-attention spaces
Courts, courts-yards, and amenity paths where decorative pavements feel out of place and a more restrained, architectural ground plane is required.

Teams that choose EcoPave tend to value
  • Experience over throughput
  • Atmosphere over spectacle
  • Decades over project cycles
  • Stewardship over replacement
Not the right fit when
  • Lowest first cost is the only driver.
  • Surfaces carry frequent heavy-truck traffic.
  • The goal is decorative patterning or branded graphics.
Material Experience

Movement, comfort, and quiet as design tools.

EcoPave™ is designed so that people notice where they are going, not what they are walking on.

Traditional rigid pavements often feel hard and bright; loose aggregate shifts, tracks, and demands attention. EcoPave™ sits between those extremes: a continuous surface with a subtle give underfoot, without the rattle, rolling, or visual noise.

From a distance, the texture compresses into a calm field that lets planting and architecture take the lead. Up close, it reads as a deliberate, finely graded surface — resolved but not decorative.

For visitors
Walking that feels even and unforced, so focus can stay on the collection, conversation, or view — not on negotiating the surface.

For accessibility
Wheelchairs, strollers, and carts move without step changes, loose material, or vibration, making access feel built-in rather than added on.

For operations teams
No stone to rake back into place, no patchwork of incompatible repairs, and fewer calls driven by comfort or surface fatigue.

System

A material that works with the landscape — not over it.

EcoPave™ is built to acknowledge that landscapes move, breathe, and hold water. The system is tuned to live well inside that reality.

EP-200 combines washed stone, recycled rubber granules, and a UV-stable binder to create a permeable surface that can flex with seasonal change rather than crack against it. Freeze–thaw, shifting soils, and planted conditions are treated as design inputs, not edge cases.

The system is installed by trained landscape and hardscape crews using familiar preparation practices. Details can be calibrated to support both structured base conditions and more sensitive root or soil zones, depending on the intent of the space.

In higher-use corridors
Installed over a compacted aggregate base where structural performance, wear, and daily operations are primary concerns.

In planted and naturalized areas
Detailed to protect roots and soils while maintaining a continuous walking surface, so paths feel integrated into the landscape rather than imposed on it.

We provide section guidance and detailing support for design teams →

Working characteristics at a glance: permeable pedestrian surface, flexible under freeze–thaw, and suitable for wheelchairs, strollers, and carts.

Stewardship

Made for places that are meant to be kept.

EcoPave™ is chosen by teams planning for the next decade of visitors, not just the opening day.

In environments where rigid pavements tend to crack, heave, or require patching, EcoPave™ is designed to stay continuous and legible — even under moisture and temperature swings. The system is tuned to reduce the familiar cycle of failure, patch, and visual disruption.

The value is often felt most in what does not happen: fewer trip hazards, fewer abrupt repair patches, and fewer moments when the surface pulls attention away from the landscape it is meant to support.

What long-view teams notice over time
Surfaces that stay continuous instead of cracking and patching.
A ground plane that matures with planting instead of fighting it.
Less reactive maintenance, so staff time can stay on care, not correction.

EcoPave™ is selected for projects where longevity, legibility, and comfort are treated as part of the user experience — not maintenance variables.

Technical performance
Independent laboratory evaluation

Selected results from EP-200 evaluation under pedestrian-surface conditions. These are most relevant to guest-facing paths, collection walks, and amenity routes.

Slip resistance — British Pendulum
67 BPN dry · 68 BPN wet
Consistent traction in wet and dry conditions for visitors, carts, and strollers.
Permeability — ASTM F1551
> 200 in/hour
Supports rapid drainage and reduced surface water during rain and storm events.
Abrasion — ASTM C501
2.09% loss · 1000 cycles
Stable wear behavior under repeated pedestrian contact over time.
Thickness change
0.36% reduction
Minimal loss of profile after abrasion, helping the surface remain even and legible.
Philosophy

EcoPave is not a product. It is a point of view.

On how landscapes should feel to move through. On how materials should behave over time. On what it means to signal care.

EcoPave™ is built around a simple belief: the most respectful surfaces are often the least demanding visually. It is a rejection of ground planes that shout “performance” by being louder, brighter, or harder than everything around them.

Instead, EcoPave™ aims to disappear into the experience — a resolved, almost background presence that quietly supports planting, people, and program without asking to become the main event.

As a result, EcoPave™ is rarely the lowest line on a comparison sheet. It is typically chosen when experience, coherence, and longevity are treated as primary criteria, not as afterthoughts.

Sample

A material you can test against your own standards.

The EcoPave™ sample is the same EP-200 system used in the field — intended to be handled, discussed, and challenged by your team.

Each sample uses the same washed stone, recycled rubber granules, and UV-stable binder as project work. The flexibility you feel when you pick it up is not a showroom effect; it is the same quality that helps the surface move with the landscape instead of fracturing when conditions change.

We encourage teams to set the sample next to drawings, within material boards, and alongside existing paths to test whether EcoPave™ belongs in the story of that place.

As part of the evaluation process, we can:
• Talk through aggregate and color choices in the context of your palette
• Help align surface character with your design narratives
• Provide guidance on details that protect planting, soils, and water

Request a sample with basic project context so we can respond thoughtfully. We review each request individually; there is no mailing list or automated marketing.

In most cases you will hear from us within a few business days with either shipment details or clarification questions.

EcoPave Materials

A materials practice focused on the ground plane.

EcoPave™ is developed and installed by teams who specialize in surfaces for people-focused outdoor environments — from first sketch through long-term care.

Our work sits where landscape architecture, material science, and construction overlap. We collaborate with design offices, institutions, and contractors to ensure the surface experience is as considered as the planting, structures, and lighting it connects.

EcoPave™ is not offered as a universal answer. It is one tool in a broader conversation about experience, ecology, and longevity — and we are candid about when it is the right choice and when it is not.

Discuss a project or specification

We welcome early-stage conversations with landscape architects, planners, institutional owners, and operations teams.

Email the studio