Fabulous Functional Flooring  

A recent market research report by the firm Grand View Research indicated that the global commercial flooring market size for 2016 was valued at just over $27 billion. That reflects the significance of the market but also the widespread, annual need for commercial flooring. The report goes on to point out that the floor-covering sector is expected to expand within the industry over the next eight years, particularly as product innovation and hassle-free installation technologies come more into play. A general rising demand in the construction industry will help fuel this expansion, of course, but so will consumer expectations and demands that are helping to drive innovative flooring solutions that are durable and require low maintenance. In light of these trends that highlight the significance of flooring as a building product, this course will look closer at four particular design considerations and available product offerings that can be considered for commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings of all types.

Photo courtesy of Neolith by TheSize

Recent innovations in flooring provide many new design options for color, pattern, and texture while also offering increased durability and ease of maintenance.

Floor Structure

The structural floor system of a commercial building provides many attributes for a building. In addition to tying into the rest of the building structure, it creates a solid separation between building stories to prevent the passage of sound, air, light, and fire. It is also the platform or substrate that supports everything placed on the floor, including the finish flooring. As such, it can either create favorable conditions for the finish flooring to function or, alternatively, can cause problems. In fact, most finish flooring problems come about not because of problems with the finish material but because of problems with the material or structure under it. Therefore, the attributes of the structural floor system can directly affect the real or perceived attributes of the finish flooring, regardless of what is selected.

In many commercial, industrial, or institutional buildings, steel and concrete are commonly used to create the structural floor system. However, it is the selection of a specific type of steel or concrete floor system that can greatly affect the overall performance outcomes of a construction project. There are actually a variety of types and range of capabilities of floor systems that can be both complex and versatile. The final selection can directly influence the unsupported span length, acoustic attributes, vibration control, and fire-resistance ratings. Further, the integration of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and even the ultimate height of the building itself can be dictated by the structural floor system selected for a project.

There are at least three common structural floor system choices considered for many commercial buildings. The first is a conventional, lightweight system using steel girders, beams, or trusses to support a metal floor deck that is topped with concrete. This steel-based system is known for its speed of erection, lighter weight, and versatility. Second is an all-concrete system, whether precast or poured in place, which is usually thinner in overall height compared to a steel floor system. However, all-concrete systems need to be assessed for the amount of additional dead weight they create compared to other systems. A third, and innovative alternative, is the use of long-span composite floor systems that combine the lighter weight and erection ease of steel with the strength and durability of concrete. Referred to as a long-span composite floor system, it achieves a thin-slab advantage characterized by a narrow floor structure, longer unobstructed floor spans, and a range of under-floor aesthetic ceiling options. These systems not only address the economy of the structure, but they also address the final design of rooms or spaces, including ceiling design, acoustical treatments, sound attenuation, and fire resistance.

Long-span composite floor systems can weigh up to 40 percent less than comparably utilized cast-in-place (CIP) concrete floors, can provide fire resistance ratings up to 4 hours, and can achieve clear spans up to 36 feet. This makes them very well suited for a full range of new and renovation/retrofit building projects, including multistory residential, commercial, health-care facilities, parking garages, specialty platforms, and high-rise buildings. From an economic standpoint, less steel and less weight in these composite systems contribute to lower overall project costs. As part of an integrated structural system, they can enhance the structural performance of the rest of the building whether those other portions are based on steel, concrete, masonry, or framed bearing walls. Composite floor systems can also be constructed faster, safer, and more cost effectively than alternative systems.

Long-span composite floors function by using the best of each material in this hybrid system: the tensile strength of a corrugated metal deck and the compressive strength of reinforced concrete. Together, this system allows for longer spans that can eliminate the need for intermediate supports and create a single floor/ceiling assembly that allows more economical floor-to-floor heights. Two common types are as follows:

• Dovetail composite deck profiles: This typical profile is capable of supporting clear spans up to 28 feet. Its name comes from the dovetail shaped profile of the corrugated metal panel that receives the concrete and bonds firmly with it. This can provide extra rigidity and strength that allows finish flooring to function properly without fear of deflection or movement. This profile can be particularly useful in midrise or multistory residential projects such as hotels, health-care communities, and dormitories, where walls between units can support the floor deck without the need for intermediate supports.
• Deep-deck composite profiles: Deep-deck composite floors support even longer, wider, and more open spaces than dovetail profiles. Clear spans up to 36 feet are commonly achievable, meaning they are well suited for buildings where open space and free flowing interiors are sought.

The flexibility and attributes of a composite floor system can change the way architects and engineers view a project. It’s no longer just a floor—it’s an evolved structural floor and ceiling system that is integral to better building design. Vitaliy Degtyarev, PE, design and research engineer for New Millennium Building Systems, has observed this first hand. “A hospital renovation project called for wide, open floors designed to accommodate unique serviceability requirements,” he says. “Thirty-three-foot spans between beams, combined with overhangs as long as 14 feet, provided a unique design challenge. The solution was found in a composite floor slab approach. Since the floor system also supported operating room equipment and an outboard curtain wall system, controlling deflection was a critical and successful function of the composite design.”

Photos courtesy of New Millennium Building Systems

Long-span, composite structural floor systems create a strong, durable, and economical floor substrate for applying finish flooring materials.

Entrance Flooring

Too often, one of the most overlooked and underappreciated products within a building is an entrance flooring system. Comprised of an engineered mat or grid flooring system, entrance flooring is specifically designed to trap dirt and debris at the door. This means that it not only keeps the rest of the building flooring cleaner, reducing maintenance costs, but it also reduces potential damage from things that can be tracked in on shoes, carts, etc. As such, it is one of the most functional and cost-saving products that can be included in a building relative to their overall cost. Entrance flooring also improves indoor air quality by reducing airborne particles and the need for harsh cleaning chemicals. From a safety standpoint, dangerous conditions, like slippery floors, can be reduced since rainwater can be captured in the system, thus helping to eliminate slip and fall accidents. In terms of design options, there is a wide range of entrance flooring products available with selections readily made to suit all different building types, usage requirements, and budget ranges, not to mention contributing to a positive first impression when people enter the building. Because of the variety of aesthetic options and available materials, it is easy to create an entrance flooring system that readily complements a building’s design.

Permanent entrance flooring systems have been manufactured and incorporated into buildings since the 1960s so they have proven themselves repeatedly over time. Products include systems that are made from aluminum or stainless steel with common choices of computer-milled, modular mats, and grids. There are options for both surface-mounted systems that sit above a concrete floor and recess-mounted applications, which require that the concrete slab be formed to accept it. To assist during building design, most entrance flooring manufacturers will provide technical assistance to assure proper sizing coordination, product samples, and other details. Through this collaboration, products can be selected that are best suited to different building types and design factors, such as weather, foot traffic, rolling loads, and ADA compliance. This early collaboration allows architects and designers to gain insights into addressing proper layout and product choices for different situations. It also helps determine which aesthetic options and materials will best suit the overall design intent to either blend with the surrounding flooring or provide a visual accent. Once the project moves from design into construction, the manufacturing team can assist with field-verified dimensions, on-site technical support, product mockups, and sample coordination.

The value of entrance flooring systems is most fully realized by the building owners and maintenance staff since entrance flooring systems are known for their durability. They have been shown to stand up to years of foot traffic, heavy equipment, harsh weather conditions, and tracked-in debris. Many users see the way entrance flooring helps to extend the life of the interior floors, decrease maintenance costs, improve indoor air quality, and decrease the risk of liability caused by slip/trip/fall accidents. In short, they experience first-hand that by stopping dirt at the entrance, the rest of the building thrives.

Wade Brown, product marketing manager of Construction Specialties, notes that “If entrance flooring systems are not designed and included at the time of construction, it becomes the owner’s problem to solve how to best keep dirt and water from entering through their front door, and ultimately protect all the buildings occupants from hazards such as slip/falls and poor indoor air quality. The architect’s decision on what products to use, or whether to use them, can have a lasting effect on those who inhabit the building over its life time.” Overall, by stopping dirt at the entrance, the rest of the building is protected from it. And since entrance flooring systems are known for their long-term durability, it is easy to see why they have very favorable payback periods.

Photos courtesy of Construction Specialties

The many different types of entrance flooring available can provide an effective transition between indoor and outdoor space, such as the Owego Elementary School (top left), or highlight a logo for place identification, such as the Belton Research Hospital (top right). Not limited to just vestibules, it can make up a full front lobby, such as the SRAbility Lab (bottom).

Sintered Stone Flooring

Sintering is a manufacturing process that uses natural materials in powder form and processes them, usually under heat, pressure, or both, to create a desired product. In the case of sintered stone for flooring products, stone and other natural materials are ground to a powder and subjected to specific heat and pressure to produce a uniquely broad combination of characteristics. It is resistant to stains, scratches, chemicals, and heat with a high density, which makes it virtually waterproof—it has a porosity less than 0.09 percent, meaning no sealers are required. For those who maintain the building, they find the dense, nonporous surface easy to clean, including the removal of graffiti so the appearance and color are maintained over time. Even harsh chemicals aren’t a problem to use since it is chemical resistant.

From a design standpoint, the surface of sintered stone can provide the look of stone, tile, wood, smooth, or textured surfaces in a variety of colors and hues. However, it is lighter in weight than many other materials, coming in at only 1.1 to 1.5 pounds per square foot for a ¹/₈-inch thick panel. Further, it is available in large-format sizes ranging from 12-inch by 24-inch tiles up to 60 inches by 60 inches or in full slabs that are 4 feet by 12 feet or 5 feet by 10.5 feet. Larger sizes means minimal grout lines and less concern about keeping those lines clean. The material is also very versatile. In addition to the variety of thicknesses and size formats, it is also available in more than 50 full-body and digitally enhanced decors, allowing design professionals to engage in full creative control over their projects.

When used specifically for floor surfaces, sintered stone is suitable for all types of spaces, from large hotel lobbies to midsize retail or restaurant settings to small bathrooms, and just about everything in between. The degree of wear resistance needed in any of these spaces can be accommodated by picking the proper thickness of sintered stone to suit the situation. The choices of thickness can also help provide smooth transitions with adjacent floor finishes. Depending on the manufacturer, sintered stone can be created to take on the very accurate appearance of marble, granite, other stone, wood grain, tile, and more. This means that designers have a full palate of colors and textures to choose from. Grand spaces can have sintered stone floors that look like marble, granite, or other dramatic stone, including the capability to create patterns and stone imagery that is more readily controlled than stone materials. For restaurant and retail spaces, the colors and textures can be selected to complement the rest of the décor and create spaces that are bold and strong or soft and intimate depending on the situation. For bathroom and kitchen spaces, surfaces that look like marble or create contrasts of colors, including the creation of tubs and other items, can be designed to meet the intended results.

Sintered stone flooring is best installed using common thinset adhesion and grouting techniques similar to ceramic tile installation. The underlying subfloor or substrate needs to be flat and clean as with any large-format product. Self-leveling materials or isolation crack membranes are always recommended to help assure best results. Then an appropriate thinset adhesive can be applied to the substrate and made ready to receive the sintered stone in common fashion. The material itself can be precut by the manufacturer or field cut using conventional cutting tools for tile. Either way, the manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations need to be followed for the proper handling, adhering, grouting, and joint work to achieve best results. Standard instructions will often be provided to help avoid installation mishaps.

Once installed and in use, sintered stone flooring can be an ideal solution for large-format tiling in high-traffic commercial and residential project applications. As a product solution, it addresses some of the most common issues with traditional large-format tiles: weight, expenses, and difficulty of installation. Since the product is available in exceptionally thin flooring slabs at 6 millimeters in thickness (¼ inch), they are quite lightweight and fairly easy to transfer from warehouse to construction site. They can also be applied directly onto existing surfaces, eliminating the need for gut remodeling or costly tear-outs while reducing landfill waste.

Photos courtesy of Neolith by TheSize

Sintered stone flooring can create dramatic visual effects while providing durable and beautiful surfaces.

Vinyl Sheet Flooring

High-quality vinyl sheet flooring has been a go-to flooring choice for many designers for a long time, particularly for demanding interiors such as health-care and assisted living facilities, high-impact athletic/exercise rooms, retail and hospitality spaces, and educational facilities. When looking to select and specify this versatile, resilient flooring, here are some of the latest developments in this product choice.

• Patterns and textures: No longer limited to only flat, smooth surfaces, high-quality vinyl sheet flooring is now available in patterns and textures that emulate other materials, including diamond plate pattern, linen pattern, and wood-grain pattern. They also offer a wide array of colors that can be incorporated into an overall interior design scheme.
• Top finish choices: Some sheet vinyl products are available with a factory-applied urethane finish that creates a no-wax surface. This finish protects the flooring, reduces scuffing, and simplifies routine maintenance. As such, it extends the life of the flooring by protecting it from wear due to staining and soiling.
• Athletic surfaces: Whether talking about everyday fitness buffs or the most dedicated and intense athletes in the world, they all require top-of-the-line equipment to stand up to the intensity of their training. That includes the flooring that they work out on. In response, manufacturers have created high-quality resilient sheet flooring with shock-absorption qualities to help relieve some of the pressures exerted from physical activities. Such flooring features an anti-fatigue, cushioned-step, closed-cell foam backing that is designed especially for high-impact activities. Available with very low-VOC-emitting flooring, it allows fitness enthusiasts to push their strength to the maximum level.

Images courtesy of LONSEAL FLOORING

High-quality sheet vinyl flooring is available in a range of embossed patterns, textures, and colors that provide more design options than previously, including diamond plate pattern, linen pattern, and wood-grain pattern, all shown here.

There are also advances in the way resilient sheet vinyl is pursuing and achieving greater sustainability and green building recognition. Some of these ecofriendly features can be summarized as follows:

• LEED contributions: High-quality vinyl interior flooring products are available that contribute toward LEED v4 Building Product Disclosure and Optimization: Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) (Option 1). This qualifies the materials and sources with an industry-wide EPD. They can also contribute toward Sourcing of Raw Materials (Option 2), which means the products have post-industrial recycled content, commonly ranging from 10–20 percent, with some reaching 50 percent or more. Interior flooring products and adhesive products are also available to meet the requirements of Indoor Environmental Quality credits for general emissions evaluation and VOC content requirements.
• FloorScore^® certification: This well-known program from the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) and Scientific Certification Systems independently tests and certifies flooring products for compliance with indoor air quality emission requirements. Some products have recently been developed and certified for low VOC content, a notable distinction from other products.
• Collaborative for High-Performance Schools (CHPS): Some manufacturers are a member of and meet the standards for the CHPS program, a well-known green building rating system especially designed for schools.
• ISO 9001 and 14001 compliance: Flooring products can be specified to be obtained from a facility that has certifications from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which provides a rigorous external third-party verification process. Specifically ISO 9001: Quality Management Systems ensures a manufacturer’s compliance to its own internal quality standards. In addition, ISO 14001: Environmental Management Systems addresses ever-changing environmental laws and regulations.
• Operations and maintenance: The formulation of high-quality sheet vinyl flooring can help with better indoor environmental quality during the operations and maintenance of a building as well. A preapplied urethane finish can reduce maintenance efforts and reduces the need for chemicals from finishes and strippers. It also adds durability and product longevity that can exceed most other flooring options using phthalate-free technology. There are also antimicrobial formulations the feature increased infection control, making them particularly well suited for health-care and school facilities.

Photo courtesy of LONSEAL FLOORING

High-quality flooring, when properly selected, can make an interior environment feel warm, inviting, and comfortable.

While vinyl flooring manufacturers have made great progress in recent years, some are never satisfied with the status quo and are always striving to raise the bar with ever-more ecofriendly products and new product offerings. Some get their inspiration from the world in which we live in, taking an intellectual approach to invest time in researching the right flooring designs for various interior environments. For example, some new vinyl products feature a wood-grain pattern that has the characteristics of watery lines of waves. This ripple design uses a distinguished, centuries-old, timeless pattern to give everyday commercial building spaces and specialty applications a more genteel touch. Taking its cue from 18^th century traditional designs, it can make an interior environment warm, inviting, and comfortable.

Jorge Marquez is president of Lonseal Flooring, and he comments on this type of innovative, ongoing development: “When architects and designers are looking for project uniqueness, they turn to high-quality sheet vinyl flooring. It is known for sophisticated designs, along with a long-standing reputation of providing high-quality flooring.”

When applying this type of flooring to a specific facility, Gregg Daniels, the director of facilities services at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa, has some substantial experience. He oversees the central campus, which has been utilizing high-quality sheet vinyl flooring for more than 10 years in a wide variety of applications. Those uses include patient rooms and corridors, ICU and CICU, wellness ASC, brain center, maternity triage and birthing unit, cath lab, nuclear medicine, the MOB cafeteria, and offsite day-care center for children of employees. He notes, “Our facility has carpet in the main lobby and corridor areas that transition to resilient flooring of various types where direct patient care takes place. High-quality sheet vinyl flooring stands out for performance and durability, ease of maintenance, as well as for the realistic wood looks of the products used. The range of colors offered help our design team create comfortable surroundings for patients, visitors, and staff. The product also holds up well under heavy traffic and maintains its original look.” As a busy health-care facility, it’s concerned about environmental and maintenance issues. “Mercy also recognizes and appreciates a commitment to quality standards via ISO certifications and green attributes that include low VOCs and inclusion of recycled content. Our Environmental Services Department appreciates the transition to easier routine maintenance with a more environmentally friendly, no-wax factory finish. This has led to a significant reduction in overall maintenance costs.” In sum, he attributes the ongoing use of these high-quality vinyl products as important to Mercy Medical Center’s ongoing successful operation.

Photos courtesy of LONSEAL FLOORING

High-quality sheet vinyl flooring is available with some innovative characteristics, such as warm, wood patterned designs, antimicrobial formulations, and topcoat finishes that can simplify routine maintenance.

Conclusion

Flooring is a significant interior design feature of a building. It provides a far reaching aesthetic as part of an overall design concept. It needs to perform to hold up over time with an appropriate amount of maintenance. It can successfully address indoor environmental quality and health concerns. Design professionals who acknowledge the options and understand the differences can achieve success in all three of these areas.

FLOOR SYSTEM CASE STUDY 1

Images courtesy of New Millennium Building Systems

Project: Vertical Mall
Location: 100 West 125^th Street, Harlem, New York

The Project: A six-story vertical shopping mall has been constructed in the heart of Harlem, a neighborhood of New York City that has seen new investment and changes in recent years. Completed in December 2016, the mall contains more than 160,000 square feet and is anchored by national brand stores and restaurants.

The Design: In order to obtain the open spaces needed for commercial space, a long-span composite floor system was used in this revitalized vertical shopping mall. The floors combine the structural advantages of a flat-plate slab with the time- and cost-saving advantages of a permanent form slab. Accommodating clear spans up to 36 feet, this system was determined to be ideal for retail structures such as this one.

Results: Unobstructed spans are ideal for retailers, such as the Whole Foods that anchors this building, to provide plenty of space to display products and allow consumers room to shop with carts.

FLOOR SYSTEM CASE STUDY 2

Photos courtesy of New Millennium Building Systems

Project: T.C. Williams High School
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

The Project: The T.C. Williams High school is designed to accommodate 3,600 students plus the teachers and staff required for its full operation. The building includes a central roof deck area. Above the deck is a green roof that allows students to learn about the environment and explore various green career options.

The Design: A cellular composite deck with acoustical mitigation provided support for the green roof above. The roof deck panels applied in the T.C. Williams High School project provide a smooth surface with acoustical properties to help control the sound generated by the students and staff of a large high school.

Results: What makes this project unique is that the floor is acoustical yet composite to support the green roof above. So it is highly structural, meeting the acoustical damping requirements of the school hallway as well as the loading requirements of the garden above.

ENTRANCE FLOORING CASE STUDY 1

Photos courtesy of Construction Specialties and Patrik Argast

Project: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
Location: San Francisco
Architect: Fong & Chan Architects

The Project: The Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, commonly referred to as ‘The General,’ has been serving the city and Northern San Mateo counties for decades. As a top medical training and research facility as well as the area’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, the hospital serves more than 100,000 patients annually. Construction of the nine-story acute-care hospital began in 2009 and was completed in 2015, due in large part to a significant donation from Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.

The Design: In order to achieve its goal of obtaining LEED Gold certification, environmentally responsible products were selected for this project. Nuno Lopes, AIA, principal at Fong & Chan Architects, led the effort to see that everything about the design was carried through in the details. That included the selection of a permanent entrance flooring system for the main entrance to remove contaminants from visitors’ shoes while contributing to the positive first impression of the hospital. A similar but different entrance flooring product was chosen for the remaining entrances. Both products are designed to withstand heavy rolling loads while trapping dirt and water. They also both contribute to LEED certification credits.

Results: The entrance floor system helps contribute to a healthy indoor environment in the building as part of the sought-after LEED certification.

ENTRANCE FLOORING CASE STUDY 2

Photo courtesy of Construction Specialties

Project: The Barnes Foundation
Location: Philadelphia
Lead Architect: Tod Williams/Billie Tsien Architects, New York City
Associate Architect: Ballinger, Philadelphia

The Project: Albert C. Barnes began his career in the pharmaceutical industry, developing a popular antiseptic for the prevention of infant blindness. As his business flourished, his art collection grew as well. In 1922, he established The Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, to share his French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection and educational theories with the public. Following his death, it was decided to move the collection to Philadelphia to allow a larger population access to it. After a long court battle relating to restrictions imposed by the original trust, a judge ruled that it could be moved as long as the collection was housed in a building that nearly duplicated the one in Merion.

The Design: Tod Williams/Billie Tsien Architects painstakingly recreated the original building while adding features that allowed for better lighting and exhibition of the collection. The 93,000-square-foot, two-story building is a near duplicate of the structure in Merion and a beautiful addition to Philadelphia’s Parkway Museum District.

The project boasts a number of sustainable features, including a green roof and permeable surfaces that allow for rain and grey water reuse. The architects required an entrance flooring system that would preserve the beautiful interior surfaces they had chosen but wanted it to have a high-end style to match the feel of the building. Ballinger chose a stainless steel entrance flooring system to complement the entryway finishes. Not only is dirt effectively trapped at the door, cutting down on maintenance costs and improving indoor air quality, but the stainless steel properties also offer a beautiful yet sustainable solution.

Results: The use of the entry flooring system with its satin-finished stainless steel rails provides the look and performance desired by the architects. It creates a bold appearance and great scraping ability, while the 1¹/₈-inch depth allows a generous pit in which to collect the snow, water, and debris from the shoes of incoming visitors.

SINTERED STONE CASE STUDY

Photos courtesy of Neolith by TheSize

Project: Enigma Restaurant
Location: Barcelona
Architect: 2017 Pritzker Prize winners RCR Arquitectes, Olot, Catalonia, Spain

The Project: An air of mystery—this is Enigma. Its story started with renowned Catalan chef Albert Adrià’s vision to create an enigmatic restaurant project that was to reflect his cuisine as well as his career. His vision took shape when 2017 Pritzker Prize winners RCR Arquitectes drew their design idea in watercolors and decided to bring it to life with the help of a manufacturer and designer of sintered stone. Through an incredibly creative and close collaboration, the enchanting interior was created. Having worked on the design proposal for three years, Adrià wanted to ensure the perfect outcome for his passion project. Well-known for his experimental cuisine and surprising menus, the chef wanted to create an immersive environment to captivate his guests.

The Design: The pivotal moment in terms of design came when RCR, in collaboration with architect Pau Llimona, drew a watercolor painting in the size of three sheets of A2 paper (approximately 8 square feet), which was to be applied to the floors, walls, bathrooms, kitchen worktops, cabinetry, and air extraction systems. However, a watercolor design had not been done on sintered stone before, thus posing an unprecedented challenge. Product Designer Carlos Garcia explains: “We had to expand the original design, all the while trying not to lose the quality of definition offered by the original drawing.” Through R&D, the manufacturer developed the technology to recreate the design onto slabs, producing a perfect replica of the drawing.

Once this was achieved, an exact color match had to be sourced, as the required green and blue tones are unusual hues for sintered surfaces. The intensity of the colors had to fit in with the other materials and decorations throughout the restaurant as to achieve a unified environment, fully immersing diners. Using a digital printing decoration technology, the architect’s design brief was fully met. The architects also wanted every slab to be of irregular texture, but with a subtle shine to provide a surface that is multisensory—interesting to the eye and inviting to touch. “Sintered stone is a contemporary material with many properties. We have been so surprised by its possibilities that we are now using it for other projects” explain the architects.

The Fabrication: The floor presented the biggest challenge because of its sheer size. Each slab is unique and had to be perfectly put together in order to deliver a continuous design. However, the only way to get a full picture of the puzzle required some creative problem solving and a change of perspective. The manufacturer initially installed the entire floor off-site and used a drone to take images from above, thus ensuring that there were no inconsistencies. RCR Arquitectes/Llimona designed an organic space full of curves and narrow aisles and required the slabs to be cut down into six smaller pieces, the smallest being only 3 centimeters wide. Absolute precision was key to guarantee the uniformity of the watercolor design. Taking inspiration from a map, a coordinate system was put into place, uniquely labelling every single slab to know its exact position in the project. This way, the installers on location were able to piece the interior together like a puzzle. The architects note, “It was a pleasure to be able to work with the technical team from the manufacturer. Their willingness to help out was excellent and allowed us to create a unique piece, which turned the 700-square-meter floor into a watercolor painting.”

The Results: Albert Adrià, RCR Arquitectes, and the sintered stone manufacturer are all award winners within their respective industries. Together they created a project that is truly spectacular in terms of design, material quality, food, and surprisingly fashion. Completing the scene is the Enigma staff, whose uniforms have also been designed by RCR/Llimona. Enigma truly is full of surprises. The architects say: “We like the idea that it is an Enigma, which is difficult to explain. It is an enveloping space that melts, disappears, almost a labyrinth. Between materiality and conformation, a whole series of organic movements is created. Shadows, transparencies, and a watery presence, nebular.”

Peter J. Arsenault, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP, is a nationally known architect, consultant, continuing education presenter, and prolific author advancing building performance through better design. www.pjaarch.com, www.linkedin.com/in/pjaarch