Houston Museum of Fine Arts

Photo courtesy of Casa de Camera

At the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 45,000 square feet of slate-gray Venetian terrazzo was installed on five levels of the new Nancy and Rich Kinder Building. A winding terrazzo staircase links the lobby and galleries on all floors and serves as the atrium’s centerpiece.

Replicating the existing terrazzo flooring, designed back in the 1950s by none other than Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts Nancy and Rich Kinder Building features slate-gray Venetian terrazzo throughout this new addition. To install the 45,500 square feet of Venetian terrazzo, Steven Holl Architects recruited the same terrazzo contractor that installed the original terrazzo in Cullinan Hall. “The project utilizes one color per space, in a very neutral palette,” says Jonathan Maraldo, executive vice president, Southern Tile & Terrazzo, Houston.

In addition to matching the existing terrazzo installed by his grandfather and great-uncle, Maraldo explains that the architects’ reasoning was that the larger aggregate would not look as busy and therefore not detract from the artwork. Size 4 to 7 marble aggregates comprise the terrazzo on five different levels, along with a base, plinth, and ribbon stairs. Terrazzo was specified for all the stairs to create a flow from one level to the next, states Olaf Schmidt, senior associate, Steven Holl Architects, New York City. In addition, 4,000 square feet of smaller white aggregate flooring connects the Kinder building to Cullinan Hall through a tunnel.

Schmidt relates that the exact terrazzo specifications emerged from a long process of research, countless samples, reviews, and incremental improvements to reach the final result. Basing their design on the Cullinan Hall Law building, in addition to the terrazzo design of the museum’s Brown building across the street, the architects altered the composition step by step, to arrive at the complimentary grey and black mix, with some green added in.

Through this process, Maraldo’s team produced 50 different terrazzo samples for the architects to review. “The terrazzo was originally specified as standard terrazzo utilizing aggregates sized 1/8 to ½ inch. On the first change, the architect wanted to look at aggregates sized 1/8 to 3/4 inch, and the final sample had aggregates sized 1/8 to 1 ½ inches,” he recalls. “We tried numerous different ma-trix colors, as well as numerous different aggregate colors and sizing, with each sample changing a little until we came to the final mixture.”

Steven Holl Senior Partner Chris McVoy shares with the Italian magazine Domus that it was originally Museum Director Gary Tinterow’s idea to specify the same coarse-grained terrazzo that Mies used in the Law building. “We agreed with this to preserve continuity with the historic building, but while Meis’ building has a green tone, we opted for a black and white terrazzo.” The cascading terrazzo staircase links the lobby and galleries on all floors and serves as the atrium’s centerpiece. “The atrium is very dramatic and I feel it will likely become an iconic example in 21st century museum architecture, in the same way the Guggenheim in Bilbao or New York is,” Tinterow told Domus.

Due to the large aggregate size, the terrazzo topping was poured 1-inch thick instead of the typical half-inch topping for sand-cushion applications, and 4 inches of mortar underbed in place of the usual 3 inches. The aggregate stones were also seeded by hand into the terrazzo topping instead of blended into the poured cement mix, as is typical with smaller chips. Then the floors were tamped down and rolled to remove the moisture. “Attention to detail was the most important part of the installation,” explains Maraldo “When using the larger aggregates, it is much more noticeable if you do not have the proper distribution of aggregates."

To achieve the same level of quality as the original flooring, which is still in great shape 65 years later, the terrazzo was repeatedly rolled. “The more you roll the floor, the better the end results. I’ve lived by that,” states Maraldo’s father, Michael Maraldo, president of the company. He explains that a terrazzo floor must be rolled until the outline of the divider strips can be seen, and then allowed to harden. Grinding then reveals the texture of the chips, followed by a final polish.

It takes “true craftsmen” to install the larger aggregates, Michael Maraldo adds. “My dad and uncle always worked in the field, and were master mechanics and knew the trade.”

While the staircase was precast, to get the stairs to line up perfectly, each step had to be ground, grouted, and polished for a second time. “This was a very slow process but provided an installation of the highest quality, and the stairs would not have looked the same without it,” states Jonathan Maraldo.

This large, prominent installation earned the NTMA Job of the Year in 2022, the industry’s highest honor. Reflecting back on this exciting project, Jonathan Maraldo reports, “It’s a great feeling knowing these jobs spread across generations will still be there many years into the future.”

800 W. Fulton

Photo courtesy of Clayton Menconi

Appearing as area rugs, a total of 12,889 3x5-inch marble Palladiana squares were set by hand in an 800-square-foot grid for the renovated lobby at 800 W. Fulton in Chicago.

Marble Palladiana grid-style flooring presents a unique aesthetic for Chicago’s 800 W. Fulton mixed-use lobby. Replicating the look of well-placed area rugs without the maintenance hassle of carpeting, a total of 12,889 3x5-inch marble squares were set by hand in an 800-square-foot grid, spaced out precisely at 7/8-inch horizontally and 1 1/8-inch vertically. Then charcoal epoxy terrazzo was poured on-site around the tiles. “The Palladiana portion was envisioned as an ‘area rug’ in our urban living room concept, anchoring the interior landscape and furniture, while distinguishing the programmatic area of the lobby from the circulation zones,” explains Julie Michiels, senior associate, principal and interior design director with SOM, whose firm designed the lobby.

SOM specified Venetian terrazzo for the lobby as well. Taken together, the terrazzo design blends well with the building’s large glass storefronts and tall brick walls. “We worked hard with our contractor, Menconi Terrazzo, to get the Venetian terrazzo field throughout the lobby just right, ensuring that it wasn’t too intensely black,” she adds. The Venetian design features a low-sheen finish and a variety of aggregates that were low contrast, but still provided visual interest.

In addition to terrazzo’s durability and the fact that it’s easy to clean, Michiels appreciates that it disguises a fair amount of dirt and abuse, and can also be repaired. This latter feature came in handy as there were a series of electrical floor boxes that no longer coordinated with the lobby’s furniture renovations. “Thankfully, the contractor was able to remove the floor boxes and patch the terrazzo floor so well that you would never see it unless I stood there and pointed it out to you,” she relates.

The 19-story building in the Windy City’s Fulton Market neighborhood features office, retail, restaurants, and public amenities. Targeting LEED Platinum and WELL Building Standard certification, the project won a 2022 NTMA Terrazzo Honor Award and a National AIA Interior Architecture award.