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Colored concrete was the only option a church in Evergreen, Colo., would accept. This popular church wanted flooring to support its weekly congregation — along with the more than 5,000 people who attend its many jazz music festivals—for years to come. The solution was to sandblast the existing floor to its substrate then relay the surface, which is designed to look like raw silk. There are two essential options for colored concrete—either color the entire slab upon pouring or provide color on the surface like they did here. The second option is ideal for retrofit situations. To provide special effects to concrete, these penetrating stains can also simulate the shadings of natural stone or create artistic faux finishes. Such stains become part of the surface and will not fade, chip, crack or peel.

What about the acoustics in this vaulted ceiling church with a hard surface floor? It’s a bad rap put to all hard surface flooring. “You really just need to put thought into your soft surfaces,” White says. “This church is designed to serve as a musical arena and the concrete plays its part.”

White reminds that proper sealing and waxing are essential to maintain the floor’s appearance and durability. Sealers are color-matched to the concrete’s color. They can improve appearance and enhance depth and uniformity of color while offering an easy-to-maintain, low-gloss finish resistant to staining, abrasion, many chemicals, weather, deicing salts and UV radiation.

Some of these coatings chemically bond with the concrete to make it even stronger.

“Just before the church opened its doors for its latest jazz festival, they waxed the floors. The day after the festival, you couldn’t tell that 5,000 people had walked over it just a day earlier.” According to White, each application is different and foot traffic will determine just how much maintenance is needed on a particular project.

Creating a clear walkway

We all know what happened when Alice stepped through the looking glass, but what would happen if she could walk atop it?

New technologies in cast glass are making it happen.

Faux finish cast glass. Courtesy Nathan Allan Glass Studios.

Entry floors, lobbies, casino walkways, stair treads and elevated surfaces are just some of the recent installations with which Barry Allan, Director of Nathan Allan Glass Studios, Inc., of Richmond, British Columbia, has been involved. “Cast glass flooring is cutting edge material that has not been duplicated and produced many times over. Some architects cannot believe that glass products can be walked upon,” he says, noting that most of the clients he’s worked with are among the first ever to use cast glass flooring.

Of course, like many of its hard surface compatriots, glass isn’t always as it appears. Available in a range of colors in transparent or matte finishes, glass can also take on a number of different textures, resembling aggregate, sandstone or even lava. Each look creates a unique experience in light and reflection for each pedestrian.