2009 GRAND PRIZE WINNER - The Asian Village Restaurant
Lou DeCillis, Artistic Flooring Systems
West Bloomfield, MI
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When the design firm for this upscale Asian-themed restaurant approached Lou DeCillis of Artistic Flooring Systems, they had a very specific look they wanted to achieve. DeCillis was given a reproduction of an ancient carving that was to be used as a guide for planning the texture of the floor. "They wanted a controlled mottled look over the entire eight thousand square foot surface of the dining area" DeCillis says. "They also wanted us to introduce some design elements into the plan. We suggested large dragons and chrysanthemums.
We've been using LITHOCHROME® Chemstain® for about 15 years. So our first step was to have a pre-pour meeting with the concrete contractor to be sure the concrete would be finished to our spec. We wanted it smooth without over-troweling or burning."
The next step for DeCillis was to provide a job site mock-up to select colors, texture and sealer.
"The Dark Walnut areas of Chemstain were done first using our own proprietary technique. This allowed us to achieve a mottled look that evoked ancient Asian nephrite carvings which the designer had shown us. We followed it with a textbook application of Antique Amber."
Artistic Flooring Systems produced their own stencils for the artwork. The surrounding areas were masked off and LITHOCHROME® Tintura™ Stain was applied in Old Gold. The floor was finished with two coats of Cementone® Clear Sealer followed by three coats of floor wax. Our judges were impressed.
"The project is well executed and carefully done with great attention to detail," says Joe Nasvik of Concrete Construction magazine. "It’s very eye catching, especially the dragon. The look that was achieved with chemical stains is different too — can’t say that I’ve ever seen the careful colorations achieved like this before. Their blending of stain colors is very creative."
