Providing a modern take on an ancient aesthetic, terrazzo has become one of today’s most sought after flooring materials. Here, Flowcrete explains why.
In recent years terrazzo been seen as a one-hit wonder from the 70s, however it has in fact been a popular material ever since Ancient Rome and now it’s back among the top global design trends.
From being installed in some of the most glamorous new restaurants and hotels to its inclusion in the Pinterest 100 Report (with saves up 316% in the past year), this is set to be the year of terrazzo. It has even been embraced by some of the most prestigious fashion labels, with Valentino in particular utilising the dappled, high-end aesthetic extensively in its new RIBA award winning, West End store.
Terrazzo flooring has traditionally consisted of marble or granite chips set in concrete and polished down to a smooth surface, creating a decoratively patterned finish of small, interspersed coloured flakes. However, with a new trend we see new technologies, and today resin systems are revolutionising the design, installation and use of terrazzo surfaces. Thanks to the versatility of seamless resin terrazzo flooring, it provides the designers of large commercial facilities with the opportunity to think of the floor area as one massive canvas on which they can create bespoke works of art.
Using an epoxy or polyurethane based system instead of concrete makes it easy to pour blocks of coloured resin into the desired pattern. Metal bands are used to mark out the pattern’s different sections and once the last colour has been added in, the floor area is then repeatedly ground down, sealed and polished to create a smooth and glossy finish.
Getting creative with the aggregates added in the resin mix also gives designers the ability to tailor the shimmer and shine that’s achieved across the floor area. For example, crystal mirror glass, marble, flint, granite and mother of pearl can all be incorporated into a resin terrazzo floor and all give the final surface a different lustre.
The practical, easy-to-clean properties of resin means that the colours, pattern and shimmer of the floor won’t deteriorate in the face of heavy foot traffic, frequent cleaning, high heels, food and drink spillages – in fact all the operational challenges that busy commercial venues such as shopping centres, airports, theme parks and restaurants face on a daily basis.
Thanks to its ability to transform an environment and provide an easy to maintain finish, Flowcrete’s seamless resin terrazzo range Mondéco has been installed in a long list of prestigious, high-end locations around the world.
Recently this has included at a new restaurant opened at Benguela Cove, a winery estate in South Africa that epitomises luxurious living. The Moody Lagoon restaurant treats guests to amazing views of the lagoon and Atlantic Ocean, serves creative dishes made from the freshest produce and all in an environment that’s carefully crafted to convey vintage sophistication in a contemporary style. To create a floor in keeping with this interior design scheme, 300 square metres of the resin terrazzo system Mondéco Earth in two complementary colours was installed in a geometric pattern of interconnected squares, rectangles and lines.
In 2017 Leicester Square Kitchen, a restaurant in one of the most iconic postcodes in London, embraced a technological advance in the world of terrazzo. Mondéco Rapide has been formulated by combining the rapid curing power of methyl methacrylate (MMA) technology with the resilience of polyurethane to create a terrazzo flooring option that can be installed in a fraction of the time of traditional materials.
One hundred square metres of Mondéco Rapide was applied in and around the restaurant’s central bar area. The floor was applied at night, which meant that by the morning it was sufficiently cured to allow other trades to work onsite. This schedule for a terrazzo floor would previously have been unthinkable, as the work would have to be put on hold for days or weeks until the coating had cured.
