At Coverings 2019, we honored ten outstanding projects that demonstrated spectacular craftsmanship and creativity in the use of tile & stone. This week we’re putting the spotlight on the Commercial Stone Installation winner.

Commercial Stone Installation Winner
Concord Plaza
Pennacchio Tile, Inc.
Concord, CA

Concord Plaza utilized many different types of stone including granite, quartzite, porcelain, and marble. The first challenge was preparing the floor to handle the large formatted pieces to alleviate potential lippage issues. Installers used a laser level to set the height for the screeds to get the floor as level as possible.

Throughout the project, one-third of the lobby was blocked off for public access creating issues for the install; the floor could not be visualized in its entirety at one time.

Due to the complexity of the design, developing the layout was the most crucial component of the project. In most instances, installers center off four walls to center the floor; however, this design had six elements that required precision and symmetry.

We had to create two circles that meet on the eastern side of the lobby based off the center line. The center line ran through both exterior doors and the middle elevator. The smaller of the two circles also had to be a specific size to intersect both corners of the walk-off mat.

For this, a chalk line was used to create a centerline from the middle elevator door seam to the midpoint of the walk-off mat. Working off the line, we tested radiuses to find the correct size for the smaller circle.

When laying the floor, we had to start with the outermost ring. We used our digital plotter to create plastic cutouts of each A, B, C, and D pie and proceeded to lay them out to define our arc. This stage was critical because if the measurement was 1/8 out of square, it would be detrimental when the circle rotates around to the western doors. This is also why a digital plotter was used instead of a string method to ensure accuracy.

Do you have a recently completed project that features innovative design and installation of tile & stone? Consider entering it to the 2020 CID Awards – the submission portal will open this fall.