Recently it’s been seen as a one-hit wonder from the 70s, but terrazzo has in fact been a popular material ever since Ancient Rome and today 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), 2018 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.
Terrazzo for the 21st Century
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 resin instead of concrete makes it easy to pour blocks of colour into a pattern of metal bands laid out on the floor in the desired pattern. The floor area is then repeatedly ground down, sealed and polished to create a smooth and glossy finish.
Patterns can be created using resin terrazzo systems by pouring the material into a matrix of metal bands in a “paint-by-numbers” style application. The resin is then ground, sealed and polished to perfection.
Getting creative with the aggregates added into 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.
If you flick through the slideshow at the top of this post you’ll see just a few examples of the types of floors that can be achieved when you let your imagination run wild with a resin terrazzo floor.
And 2018 has more in store for resin terrazzo as there’s some big news coming soon about a new type of resin terrazzo system that provides the same style in a fraction of the time! Stay alert for more info on this coming soon.
