Flowcrete Americas has been involved in an interesting project at Gallery Furniture’s newest and largest furniture showroom in Fort Bend County, TX. The 165,000 square foot store is a sprawling series of sofas, tables and light fittings mixed with a few surprising attractions along the way.
A 20,000-square-foot glass roof atrium is located at the heart of the new store, complete with an elevated koi pond adorned by lily pads and blooming orchids, which sits next to a green living wall containing over 12,000 plants.
In the spirit of the original Gallery Furniture showroom, the atrium is home to three tufted capuchin monkeys, Katie, Houston and Sugar, who share their enclose with a toucan, a macaw, a cockatoo and a couple of caique parrots.
A 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium fills one showroom wall containing blue tangs, puffer fish and stingrays as well as a zebra shark and two black tip sharks with plans to add turtles to the mix in the near future.
And if that wasn’t enough to keep folks occupied, a Star Wars inspired movie theatre can be found at the back of the store decked out with gyrating chairs to enhance the viewing experience through added motion.
Flowcrete Americas, was delighted to provide a number of flooring materials for use on the site, including one of the company’s most decorative polymer floor coating systems, Flowtallics – in a striking coffee shade – for installation in the monkey enclosure.
Store owner, Jim McIngvale, opted for Flowtallics after having witnessed the monkeys at his family-owned leisure club, Westside Tennis – where Flowtallics was also installed – dancing at their reflection in the high gloss finish and playfully sliding across the super smooth, super flat surface.
The material is also highly robust, offering excellent chemical, wear and stain resistance properties combined with UV stability, in order to prevent the surface from yellowing with exposure to sunlight – a must with the bright Texas sunshine pouring through the glass roof.
A second system, Flowfresh SR with a Flowfresh FCUV topcoat, was installed in the kitchen of the store’s full-service, on-site restaurant, Brick & Mortar Kitchen, run by McIngvale’s daughter, Laura.
The material is HACCP certified as food-safe and contains a powerful silver-ion antimicrobial additive that protects the surface from degradation caused by microbial growth.
To find out more about Flowcrete Americas’s range of HACCP international certified cementitious urethane flooring systems visit www.flowcreteamericas.com.
