Homerton College Dining Hall-Cambridge

During early discussions with Fielden Fowles Architect the brief was for a geometric pattern in the handmade in situ terrazzo floor.
The hall’s construction is a combination of many sympatric natural tones from the wooden beams to the green salt glazed tile cladding and the floor was to be 4 harmonious greens too.
Whilst initial options were all considering a cementitious terrazzo floor, it became quickly apparent that the traffic, risk of staining and need for durability together with the vivid bright greens chosen meant that a resin terrazzo using natural marble chips blended by hand was the best option.

Avantgarde made over 15 different colour samples to show the aggregate blends, resin tones, balance of all four greens and the trims and mastic would work well.
During installation the precision of the floor was paramount as the points of the triangles and the intersection of the trims demanded fractions of a millimetre accuracy.
After the trims were fixed the execution of each colour had to be orchestrated to ensure no colour migration or bleed whilst also ensuring the terrazzo all cured and hardened at the same rate so that polishing was even and stabilised.

The result was a floor with flawless accuracy whilst also retaining the handmade natural feel of the bespoke insitu terrazzo.

The polishing and sealing in continuous movements also ensured the uniformity of the finish.

The product used was the exclusive EX-TZ from CRT concepts in 4 bespoke green tones.