Seamless Terrazzo Crowned Top Flooring Trend for 2012

Flowcrete UK has predicted that seamless terrazzo flooring solutions will be a hot choice for architects and specifiers involved in sustainable construction projects throughout 2012.

Having being used as a surface product since Roman times, it is the ability of terrazzo flooring to stand the test of time that ensures the material remains popular and commercially available today.

Seamless terrazzo solutions are increasingly being specified in high-traffic commercial developments including shopping malls, airport terminals, schools, hotels and leisure facilities.

Unlike tile or pre-fab counterparts, seamless terrazzo, laid in-situ, creates a smooth, joint-free, impervious finish and can be laid in a variety of complicated patterns and designs across the surface of the floor.

Rather than just delivering a platform to walk over, seamless terrazzo is enabling architects and interior designers to create a vibrant and eye-catching surface underfoot, one that not only engages with a building’s owner and users but also connects the floor to the surrounding environment.

Over the last three years Flowcrete has been involved in a number of large-scale terrazzo projects across the globe including Westfield’s White City retail development in London, the Médiacité Liège mall in Belgium and the breath-taking Iluma Urban Entertainment Centre in Singapore.

Breaking from the mould of traditional flooring, all three projects feature colour blocking, curved lines and asymmetrical patterns; creating flow for consumers in the retail environment as they wind their way around these super malls.

Seamless terrazzo is a great choice for high traffic environments such as these. Incorporating hardwearing aggregates including granite, marble, mother-of-pearl and mirror-glass, the robust material can withstand heavy footfall and aggressive cleaning regimes without causing distress or damage to the floor finish. The mix of aggregates, combined within a coloured resin matrix, creates a unique, luxurious aesthetic that is largely unrivalled in the flooring industry.

Aside from the material’s excellent durability and decorative looks, new innovations in flooring technology have led to the development of ‘greener’ and more competitively priced terrazzo solutions being introduced to the market.

Last year Flowcrete UK launched a new ‘Green’ terrazzo system under the brand name, Mondéco Mirrazzo. The system was designed to make terrazzo solutions more accessible to the environmentally conscious looking to balance performance with life-cycle cost efficiencies

The system contains more than 50% recycled materials, including crushed clear and coloured glass, mirror glass and metallic particles, which are set in an epoxy resin matrix and ground to a smooth, matt finish.

Made from a water-based formulation, Mondéco Mirrazzo is both solvent and VOC-free.  Achieving FeRFA category 8 – reserved for the most durable resin flooring materials available - the system has a low-slip potential and offers excellent thermal resistance properties.

As with all systems in Flowcrete’s Mondéco range, Mondéco Mirrazzo can be re-polished and re-sealed over time as part of the floor maintenance regime to prolong the product’s life-cycle. This, combined with all of the materials’ other benefits makes Mondéco Mirrazzo a prime candidate to assist specification professionals meet BREEAM standards for sustainable construction.

The system is available in eight popular colour ways, although bespoke aggregate designs and colours can be created using Flowcrete’s specialist colour service, which can include colour matching the new floor to compliment the neighbouring environment.

For more information on Mondéco Mirrazzo or other seamless terrazzo flooring solutions available from Flowcrete UK, please visit our website at www.flowcrete.co.uk/terrazzo

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Flowcrete UK Ltd, part of Flowcrete Group Ltd is a world leader in the manufacture of seamless industrial and commercial flooring with international manufacturing facilities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Flowcrete supplies world-class seamless flooring solutions to transform environments across the globe including; decorative seamless resins, waterproof car park deck coating systems, seamless resin terrazzo, durable antimicrobial flooring, corrosion protection, self levelling underlayments, underfloor heating and now underfloor acoustic insulation.

Flowcrete’s ambitious and dedicated team is inspired by excellence in people, products and service as well as continual innovation and sustainable growth. Flowcrete continues to use its global expertise to introduce environmentally friendly, hygienic and aesthetically attractive floors to create a better and more sustainable world.

For further information please contact ukweb@flowcrete.com

Or visit us on the web at www.flowcrete.co.uk