In the works...J.C. Penney

J.C. Penney, the department store, who has recently been in the news, 

(they seem to be going through some changes) is one of our current projects. 

This is what's below the current flooring in their retail stores.

This is what that old subfloor looks like when you love what's underneath and treat it nicely. 

If the literal foundation of the retail stores can undergo this kind of transformation- the kind that happens when you strip everything else away, discover what's underneath, and polish it till it shines, then maybe a little shake up is ultimately a good thing. 

We're feeling optimistic today (and we kind of have a thing for diamond polished concrete). 

Bucking the Trend

Trends ideas, an online and print resource for current architectural and design trends (surprise), has a nice write up about a project that we played a role in. The homeowner, Wendy Evans Joseph of Cooper Joseph Studio, is also the architect and designer behind this sleek and functional kitchen. 

If you guessed that we poured the concrete floors you would be right. 

Joseph opted to have the concrete stained and burnished (not polished as it states in the article), to achieve a more textured finish. 

Rather than skimming the top layer off of the floor with our polishing machine, burnishing leaves the simple beauty of the hand troweled finish intact. It's slightly more authentic and real. 

Joseph may have started a new trend and we love that she has highlighted an interesting option in concrete flooring. 

To read the write up and for the full list of credits go here. 

Trending

We fell in love with these concrete "skins" by Tactility Factory not too long ago.  Seems like we may be late to the party because Piet Boon has partnered with NLXL to create a line of concrete wallpaper, which debuted at this years ICFF.

While casting precast panels or using troweled concrete as a finish is pretty great, there is something about being able to create a unique space without the cost and labor involved in the real thing. 

With this product, if you grow tired of your concrete covered walls (honestly, we don't see how that could happen) you can remove them without much fuss, which is also great.

Oh ICFF, you bring out the best in all of us. 

In the works...Bicycle Roots

We've embedded nuts and bolts, shells, glass, and more recently, metal shavings into concrete. 

These tops have bicycle parts in them, which will be exposed in the finishing process. We're casting these for a bike shop in Brooklyn, NY. 

Bicycle Roots, which is opening a showroom and repair shop on Fulton Street very soon (read about them here), has chosen to cast bike parts into their new concrete countertops. 

Great big thumbs up from us. 

Where credit is due.

This weekend, New York Times Magazine featured the Laakkonen / Rosen country house in East Hampton, NY. The home is made to look like two original barns that have been connected by walkways to a more contemporary barn.  

Surprisingly, the article does not mention the architects who no doubt played a huge role in this project. Nor does it mention who poured and polished the concrete floors that you see throughout the home. 

So we thought we would.  

The architects on the project were Tim Furzer & Nandini Bagchee.

Get Real Surfaces poured and polished the concrete floors. 

There. We feel better now.