Terrazzo Surfaces

Another natural and durable material that is having a bit of a resurgence in high-use buildings is terrazzo. Terrazzo is a floor and wall finish that descended directly from simplified forms of centuries-old styles of marble mosaics used in Venice. It was first created when resourceful Venetian mosaic workers discovered a way to reuse marble remnants. With odd-size chips, they began to build terraces around their living quarters. Over time it has evolved into an environmentally friendly material that combines extraordinary design potential, optimum durability, and low maintenance. Terrazzo has also been shown to be the lowest-cost flooring material available based on its life cycle.

During the 1920s terrazzo became popular in the United States as Italian immigrants brought the trade and techniques with them. During this time, the availability of brass divider strips made possible the creation of highly artistic and intricate patterns and designs in terrazzo floors. Divider strips had often been used, beginning with wood and evolving to marble along with zinc metal and even plastic, allowing for expansion and contraction of the surface to prevent cracking. In more recent years, new developments with epoxies and acrylics have continued to make terrazzo ever more cost effective, high functioning, and versatile. The spectrum of colors is now unlimited and the make-up and finish can be suited to meet a variety of building situations. For example, rustic terrazzo is a uniformly textured surface designed for exterior use in which the matrix is depressed to expose the chips. There are also newer thin-set and epoxy-based terrazzo options which are less labor intensive and provide greater design flexibility.

Photo courtesy of NTMA

Terrazzo can create simple, elegant, and easy-to-maintain floors in hotels, restaurants, and other retail and hospitality settings.

Architects and designers have been taking advantage of the unlimited color palette and state-of-the-art water jet cutting techniques available with terrazzo to create visually stunning environments. Custom patterns and even corporate logos can easily be incorporated within a terrazzo floor. Intentional color transitions and design patterns can create an immediate visual impact by reinforcing a variety of themes and offering navigational clues throughout the building. Terrazzo is also antimicrobial, non-porous, and easily cleanable using a damp mop with neutral cleaners leaving no harsh odors to irritate people.

TERRAZZO CASE STUDY:
RANDOLPH BROOKS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION (RBFCU)

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Architect: Chesney Morales Architects/Planners & Associates

Photo courtesy of NTMA

The award-winning terrazzo installation in the Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union (RBFCU) is the result of an intense, yet collaborative, tug-of-war between the terrazzo contractor and designers to push the limits on terrazzo artistry. A 16-foot pictorial medallion, the centerpiece of the installation, depicts iconic images of Texas history—the Alamo, the state flag, the state capitol, the Guadalupe River, a Texas Ranger, Randolph Air Force Base—in 54 color combinations of epoxy terrazzo. “There's really nothing quite like it,” says Sonya McDonald, senior VP of planning and market development at RBFCU. “It's an eye-catching and unique piece that takes people's breath away. People are accustomed to seeing art on the walls, but most have never seen such a high level of intricate artistic design built into the floor.” A 2013 Honor Award winner in National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association's (NTMA) annual search for outstanding examples of terrazzo craftsmanship, the project vividly demonstrates the design potential of terrazzo flooring systems. In the planning stages of the project, the designers and architect had a vision for the medallion they wanted to create. What they didn't know was what was technically feasible, or how refined the details could be, explains Lawrence Di Filippo of Venice Art Terrazzo Company of San Antonio, the contractor on the project. “You can dream but it's not necessarily possible,” Di Filippo says. “They tried to stretch us.” Working closely with the architect and designer, Di Filippo's team and the manufacturer collaborated to rein in and simplify where reality demanded. In other areas, details could be added and further refined. The result was beyond what designers had hoped. “I'm starting to think there's nothing terrazzo can't do,” says project architect Debra Babcock, with Chesney Morales Architects/Planners & Associates of San Antonio. “I love working with it. If you can think of it, it can be done.” She recommended terrazzo for its design capabilities as well as its permanence. “Terrazzo will outlast the rest of us,” she says, noting that although terrazzo is often seen as the flooring of choice for airports, “it can be so much more than that. You can get extreme detail out of it.”

For the building's main lobby, corridors, and an elevator lobby, 3/8-inch epoxy thin-set terrazzo in eight colors was specified. Outside, rustic terrazzo sidewalks and stairs lead to a plaza where the corporate logo is inlaid in a landscape of hills, sky, jets with jet streams, and birds in a ground-and-polished sand-cushion terrazzo system in seven more colors. Precast terrazzo benches frame the plaza. As a final flourish to the graphic design, the artists' and design architect's signatures are engraved in the lobby floor and in the medallion. “The whole job is graphics, no plain terrazzo,” says Di Filippo. “It tells a story everywhere you go.”

3. Water Conservation

Retail and hospitality facilities can be very high users of water, particularly if they attract a lot of people on a daily basis who need to use restrooms or take showers. In the interest of serving customers, these businesses don't want to unnecessarily deprive anyone of water for washing. But in the interest of water conservation and green building design, they also don't want to have any water wasted or used beyond what is necessary. In response, a number of plumbing fixture manufacturers have created some innovative and appealing products that provide high design, conservation, and a feeling of fullness in the delivery of water.

Faucets and Showers

Busy restrooms include sinks where people are washing their hands regularly and frequently. As people come and go, the turning on and off of water is prone to waste, particularly if the faucets aren't turned completely off. Hence, the very common automatic, motion-sensing faucets have emerged as a logical solution to assure that water is used only as needed when hands are actually present for washing. Further, as a “touchless” fixture, hygiene is improved by eliminating the transfer of germs or bacteria from one user to another.

One downside to these automatic faucets has been their need for electrical power and wiring. The actual electricity usage may be small, but the need for wiring, circuitry, and connections requires coordination during design and construction and may be particularly difficult to achieve in some renovation projects. In response, manufacturers have offered alternatives such as solar-powered faucets that rely on borrowed light from electric light fixtures. One of the latest innovations though is an automatic faucet that uses the energy from running water to power itself. It is designed such that the flow of water spins a high-efficiency turbine to create and store power in a rechargeable capacitor. It's truly a sustainable form of energy in that every use powers the next one. Further, it is a great way to reduce maintenance and the cost of operation without routine battery replacement. This same water turbine approach has been applied to automatic flush valves in toilets and urinals with similar water, energy, and cost saving results.

Images courtesy of TOTO USA

Plumbing fixtures such as showerheads and faucets are available for retail and hospitality settings that conserve water, provide a fully enhanced washing experience, and offer great design options.

In hotels, spas, and other hospitality settings, showers that are used by guests are a primary plumbing fixture of concern. Here the intent is to provide a positive showering experience but with only the amount of water necessary. A whole range of showerheads and flow restrictors have been available for some time to address this with varying degrees of results and satisfaction. One common complaint is that the flow feels too restricted with water drops feeling small and spray-like or too intense, almost needle-like in their delivery. A recent innovation to overcome some of the limitations of other showerheads has been the use of air injected into the water stream to create more voluminous droplets. Properly done, this results in the feeling of a full, rich shower while using less water in the process. Hence, the user can receive a luxurious shower experience while respecting the water supply.

Design Applications in Retail and Hospitality Buildings

Having looked at the three general design strategies discussed, let's turn our attention to some specific ways they can be applied in retail and hospitality settings.

Sliding and Folding Door Applications

Simple straight sliding top-hung door systems can be found in hospitality guest rooms to close off bedrooms areas, for bathroom entrances and closet doors. In addition, this type of door system works especially well in other areas of a hotel including doors for retail spaces, meeting rooms, spas, and restaurants. Larger, sliding/folding doors are often used in large multifunctional spaces that may need to be transformed into smaller spaces with the use of movable walls. Systems such as these can easily transform a large conference hall into multiple smaller meeting spaces or a banquet hall into more intimate dining quarters for private functions. Telescopic or symmetric door systems are especially functional for wide openings that have a small area to locate or store the door panels. Both of these systems can be found in common areas such as dining rooms and business centers as well as in guest rooms for room dividers and wet areas.

In locations where handicapped accessibility is a design concern, sliding doors can be a particularly useful solution. Sliding doors as heavy as 175 pounds in weight can operate with less force than the ADA maximum of 5 pounds of force with the right sliding door hardware. It is also much easier for mobility-impaired individuals to slide a door out of their path than to pull or push open a swinging door which itself may become an obstacle to maneuver around. The clearances and space required to access a sliding door are less than for a swinging door as shown in ANSI guidelines for handicapped accessibility. Further, a handicapped accessible sliding door does not require a 10-inch bottom rail the way a swinging door does, presumably because the door slides out of the way of a disabled person in a wheelchair.