Concrete Floors Deliver the 'Wow' Factor

concrete floors

Flooring with a polished concrete overlay adds the “wow” factor to the new Environmental Science Building on the campus of Skyline College in San Bruno, CA.

In San Bruno, CA, Skyline College recently unveiled the newest addition to its campus—the 21,000-square-foot, $40.7-million, multipurpose Environmental Science Building. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this building houses laboratory classrooms, lecture halls, academic offices, a catering kitchen, and a gallery that optimizes its dazzling ocean views. Though the gallery floors aren’t the primary spectacle in this space, they offer their own “wow” factor.

“Usually there’s not a lot of decorative flooring thrown into county and state campuses,” says Bonnie Boden, senior project manager with flooring contractor Floor Seal Technology. “However, this project is very exclusive, very different, very private. It looks over the Pacific Ocean, it sits on the back side of the college, and their intent is to sell it as a luxury, exclusive event center. We are in the Bay Area. We have a lot of high-tech companies and private events that will utilize this space.”

For a floor befitting this use, terrazzo was originally proposed, as per the vision of Ron Galatolo, chancellor of Skyline College and the San Mateo County Community College District to which it belongs.

“Originally this was supposed to be terrazzo, but Ron didn’t like the way that terrazzo tends to be wavy, and if it does scratch, it turns white,” Boden says. “He had the idea of a black overlay colored concrete floor.”

His idea led Boden’s team to a new product from PROSOCO called Integral Color for Overlays, a liquid concentrated pigment that colors cement mixtures in overlay applications on concrete floors. There was more than one advantage to the flooring option of a polished concrete overlay, a self-leveling floor topping experiencing a recent surge in popularity.

“One of the highlights of doing an overlay cementitious floor versus terrazzo is the cost difference,” Boden says. “The cost could be substantially less, if not twice as less than a typical terrazzo floor. When you do add a little more decorative aggregate, the (cost per) square foot does go up a little bit, but you’re still talking about at least $20 a square foot less than the terrazzo.”

As it turned out, the overlay option would deliver Galatolo’s desired aesthetic effect at a lower cost than terrazzo.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management October 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Understanding the Training of School Resource Officers

    SROs are now integral components of nearly every educational system in the country. But instead of being a more passive entity in schools, they have gradually become mentors to students, adding to their support network of teachers, parents, coaches, and other caring adults.

  • Craig Gaulden Davis Architecture Announces Merger with PBK

    Craig Gaulden Davis Architecture (CGD), based in South Carolina and Maryland, recently announced that it has merged with PBK, the largest K–12 architectural firm in the U.S., according to a news release. The firm will operate as Craig Gaulden Davis | PBK with 31 offices across the country.

  • Minnesota High School Completes $226M Addition, Renovation Project

    White Bear Lake Area High School – North Campus in White Bear Lake, Minn., recently announced the completion of a $226-million renovation and addition project, according to a news release. The district partnered with Kraus-Anderson for the project’s construction, which involved creating a single high-school site for the White Bear Lake Area School District.

  • Active Learning Classroom

    Striking a Balance: The Keys to Renovating Science Education Buildings for the 21st Century

    The recent renovation of the Durham Science Center at the University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) provides a roadmap for facilities managers tasked with balancing budget constraints, modern pedagogical demands, and long-term sustainability.