Category Archives: Polished Concrete

Beyond Concrete Installs High-End Bomanite Modena Polished Concrete Floor for Iron Chef Michael Symon

September 11, 2019

Located in Atlantic City’s Marina District, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is steadfast at introducing diverse, innovative and world-class dining experiences. Guests looking for a one-of-a-kind culinary experience on the East Coast will find that the Borgata offers a wide array of restaurants and world-renowned chefs under one roof, including Wolfgang Puck (Wolfgang Puck American Grille), Bobby Flay (Bobby Flay Steak), Michael Schulson (Izakaya Modern Japanese Pub), Geoffrey Zakarian (The Water Club hotel at Borgata), restaurateurs Greg and Marc Sherry (Old Homestead Steak House) and now Michael Symon’s Angeline.

Angeline by Michael Symon located in the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City uses Bomanite Decorative Concrete Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polished Concrete Floors installed by Beyond Concrete from Keyport, NJ for a Hi-end Iron Chef Restaurant

Angeline is Iron Chef and James Beard Award winner chef Michael Symon’s ode to classic Italian food, inspired by his heritage and personal history. Growing up with Greek and Sicilian influences, Michael Symon creates meaningful dishes that showcase his unabashed love for food, passionate hospitality and zest for life. The menu captures nostalgia with red-sauce style favorites from family recipes, including his mother Angeline’s Sunday Sauce. The design of the restaurant needed to reflect this balance of old and new world.

Parts and Labor Design, a New York-based interior design firm, whose breadth of work includes restaurants, bars, hotels and retail projects at every scale, collaborated with Philadelphia’s famed Cope-Linder Architects to pull together the design of the 8,200-square-foot Italian restaurant Angeline by Michael Symon. The 223-seat fine dining experience features a bar area, main dining room and private dining space, with the intent to showcase the soulful cooking and joyful personality synonymous with the award-winning chef. It’s described as a mix of casino glam with the comfortable familiarity of a typical neighborhood Italian restaurant.

Bomanite Licensee, Beyond Concrete, having worked previously on several other top-chef restaurants at the Borgata, was brought in by Cope-Linder Architects to make sure the restaurant interior flooring was up to the design standards and within budget. Knowing the specification called for approximately 1,800 of square feet of polished concrete floors, Beyond Concrete proceeded with showcasing several custom samples with variety of colors and depth of exposure, to the architect as well as to ABC’s The Chew co-host Chef Michael Symon. The Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polishing System was chosen for its sleek and modern design, complimenting the mixed media used throughout the dining establishment.

In preparation for the Bomanite Modena SL System the floorings base slab needed to be corrected as it was extensively out of level and in poor condition. Custom colors in black and brown pigments were mixed for the final color placement of the Bomanite Modena SL System. Once cured, the flooring was ground and polished to a medium satin finish and given two coats of Bomanite Stainguard for that final seal and durable protection. Beyond Concrete’s expertise in the field made sure that the high-end restaurant was engineered for a super star review.

The Bomanite Modena Custom Polishing System is an engineered interior cementitious topping that is blended with selected aggregates and then ground and polished to the desired gloss level. The Modena system transforms existing or worn surfaces into beautiful walkways, showrooms, restaurants and lobbies and is available in a range of colors and patterns using decorative sawcuts. Additional topically applied stains and a variety of aggregates, such as recycled glass or porcelain along with regionally sourced materials, are all options in creating a beautifully designed, environmentally friendly and functional floor. The Modena system is a low-cost alternative for renovation projects and provides the durability and strength for this exceptionally long lifespan system. With the industry’s lowest lifecycle costs, low to zero VOC and minimal maintenance requirements, Modena by Bomanite is the optimal choice for renewed surfaces.

AWARDS: Beyond Concrete received the 2018 Best Bomanite Custom Polishing Project Honorable Mention Award for their work on Angeline by Michael Symon.

Musselman & Hall Contractors Receive Award for Starbucks Sustainable Bomanite Modena SL Polished Concrete Floor

July 24, 2019

The General Contractor, J.E. Foster Building Company, contacted Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC about a new Starbucks Coffeehouse being built in the Brookside community of Kansas City. Starbucks was considering the incorporation of new flooring material in a prototype store.

Starbucks design studios are located around the world so that their designers can fully understand the communities they serve. The mission of each designer is to create a spectacular Starbucks café experience that is steeped in the local culture and reflects the unique characteristics of each neighborhood.

Starbucks Coffeehouse Brookside Creates Community Design with Bomanite Modena SL Polished Concrete Floors in Kansas City installed by Musselman and Hall

Starbucks believes a coffeehouse should be a welcoming, inviting and familiar place for people to connect, so they design their stores to reflect the unique character of the neighborhoods they serve. They are also interested in the way design can connect everyone to sustainable building practices and provoke thoughtful questions and engagement with the built environment. To guide their building and design efforts, Starbucks uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® certification program as a benchmark for success. In addition to reducing energy and water consumption, they incorporate reused and recycled materials wherever possible and often use locally inspired design details and materials in their stores.

After some research and several references, the general contractor worked with the local contractor Musselman & Hall for assistance. Based on a tile sample provided by the Starbucks design team and an overall design concept, Musselman & Hall produced a series of Bomanite Custom Polishing Modena SL samples for the client’s consideration. The samples immediately impressed the Starbucks staff.

The Modena System, unique to Bomanite, is a trowel applied cementitious overlay that contains zero VOC and no solvents in the chemically hardening product with attributes to its “Low-Emitting Materials” LEED credits. Modena is polished to a highly durable finish and is commonly used to renovate floors that are unacceptable candidates for polished concrete. It can be applied as thin as 1/8” or as thick as ¾” dependent upon existing elevations. Modena can be either highly decorative with aggregate exposure or simpler with light aggregate exposure similar to finely ground concrete.

The Modena system contributes to additional LEED accrual points in “Innovation by Design” by its ability to renovate an existing concrete slab that would otherwise be unsuitable for concrete polishing. This provides specifiers the ability to use polished concrete much as they would traditionally select a manufactured tile or other flooring system only without the maintenance requirements. Bomanite Modena is more economical than typical terrazzo, is breathable which minimizes moisture vapor issues, can be colored in any color, lessens the amount of product brought to a jobsite compared to stone or tile and provides all the benefits of polished concrete.

The relatively small project (600 SF) utilized the Bomanite Nickel Gray Integrally Colored Bomanite Modena SL system. The polished overlay was placed at approximately ½” thick. The overlay was ground and polished to a 400-grit finish. Musselman & Hall coordinated with Starbucks artist who utilized a portion of the floor as a canvas to paint a fun and colorful mural. This is the first Starbucks location in the region to utilize the Bomanite Custom Polishing Modena SL flooring system.

The finished floor is a simple, but elegant representation of the design flexibility of decorative architectural concrete and Bomanite’s diverse sustainable offering of floor systems.

AWARDS: 2018 Bomanite Custom Polishing Project – Honorable Mention

Hope Fellowship Renovates with Bomanite Colored Polished Concrete and Grasscrete Pervious Concrete

March 7, 2019

Bomanite Licensee, Texas Bomanite has worked with Hope Fellowship Church in Frisco, Texas for several years in different construction phases throughout the main areas of the building. Mycon General Contractors brought in Texas Bomanite for several architectural concrete applications that needed updating at the Frisco campus. Working with Small Architects, and Mycon, Texas Bomanite installed Bomanite polished colored concrete for the floors of the lobbies, stairs, hallways, auditorium and sanctuaries and upgraded the church parking lot to a pervious Grasscrete stone filled system to accommodate the need for pervious requirements and stormwater management.

Hope Fellowship Church Brings Color to it's Ministries with Bomanite Custom Polishing Patene Teres Interior Floors and Auditorium Seating

Hope Fellowship is a 3-campus Bible Church located in Frisco (East campus and West campus) and in McKinney, Texas with services in Prosper, TX. The Church broke ground with the Frisco East campus in April 2017 and completed the expansion late 2018 that included renovating all of the children’s areas, adding a 1,700-seat auditorium and adding more ministries, such as Hope Students, Adventure Kidz, a recovery ministry and a marriage ministry.

The concrete finishes that were installed included 31,890 square feet of Class B exposure with Level 3 gloss Bomanite Patène Teres polished concrete flooring throughout the campus interior, along with 4,850 square feet of Patène Artectura dyed and sealed concrete and 2,820 lineal feet of joints filled with polyurea joint filler. Two custom brown dye colors were selected by the architect to create a warm, earthy and inviting feel.

The main challenge in this project was working around the schedule of the parishioners and staff who utilize both the inside and outside of the building for classes, church services, and gatherings. The church asked that the work be completed with minimal daytime disruption. This required Texas Bomanite to work overnight on numerous occasions to remain on schedule. A crew of 5 worked through the evenings to complete the Bomanite Patène Teres polished concrete system on time.

In addition to the interior floors, the church was required to decrease the sites overall impervious percentage and to allow for stormwater drainage. By having Texas Bomanite install 1,800 square feet of Bomanite Grasscrete pervious concrete using the biodegradable Molded Pulp Former and filling the voids with crushed stone the criteria and requirements were met.

Hope Fellowship Installs Pervious Parking Lot with Bomanite Grasscrete Stone Filled System to Help with Stormwater Management

For more information about the project and systems used, please visit

http://bomanite.com/system_sub/patene-teres/, http://bomanite.com/system_parent/pervious-concrete-systems/, http://www.texasbomanite.com/product/polished, http://www.texasbomanite.com/product/grasscrete, hopefellowship.net and mycon.com.

Infinite Campus utilizes Bomanite Custom Polished Systems to Design a Beach Themed Interior Floor

February 27, 2019

Infinite Campus is the largest U.S. owned K-12 student information management firm that is nestled among natural wetlands and a city park. Wanting to allow views to the exterior natural elements, the Finn Daniels Architect firm made sure the design incorporated architectural precast concrete wall panels, a glass curtain wall, and metal panels to provide views as well as creating an energy efficient building. The interior features open work spaces, two story garden elements with crossing bridges, a central rotunda, training rooms, and a full food service cafeteria.

Infinite Campus used Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems Modena Monolithic and Renaissance Deep Grind to create a Natural looking Floor with a Beach Vibe

When planning the cafeteria interior floor, the owner, Infinite Campus and Finn Daniels Architects wanted a free-flowing design that would complement existing epoxy terrazzo floors and carpet. The area needed to work with the natural elements already set and required low maintenance with a reflective sheen. During the conceptual stage the design team determined that the decorative concrete indoor flooring project should emulate the feeling of a sandy beach or shoreline which would shimmer and glisten like shells and sea glass in the sun. Bomanite Licensee Concrete Arts, Inc. provided the natural beach look by installing the Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems with Bomanite Modena Monolithic for the winding middle sea shell area and Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind for the shoreline perimeter.

The two unique appearances were accomplished by first pouring the two perimeter pours of Bomanite Renaissance utilizing integral color to achieve the desired shade of concrete. Then the Bomanite Modena Monolithic portion was poured to complete the winding area in between. The soft gray color of the Bomanite Modena Monolithic was enhanced with black and blue natural aggregates blended with blue recycled glass. Mirrored glass, sea shells and mother of pearl were also hand-seeded to create the shimmer and iridescence reminiscent of that perfect beach feel.

Bomanite Modena Monolithic is a poured-in-place monolithically bonded concrete overlay utilizing integral colorants blended with engineered cements and aggregates. Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind is a poured-in-place colored concrete slab with selected aggregates ready-mixed and finished to receive a deep grind and polish. Once both areas were placed and sufficiently hardened, Concrete Arts began the grinding and polishing process. This exposed the beauty of the glass and aggregate while providing a low maintenance, durable surface with great sheen and light reflectivity. When the sun shines through the glass curtain wall on the new cafeteria floor it evokes that happy feeling like a day at the beach.

American Fallen Soldiers Project Keeps on Giving with Bomanite Custom Polished Concrete

February 11, 2019

In 2016, The American Fallen Soldiers Project National Gallery opened its doors with 5,000 square feet of gallery and office space. The project was borne of an idea that professional artist, Phil Taylor, had upon learning that his childhood friend, Capt. Blake Russell, had been killed in Iraq in 2006. Inspired by stories of Blake’s patriotism and courage during the funeral, Phil knew that he wanted to contribute to the Russell family’s healing process, so he painted a portrait of his childhood friend for them.

American Fallen Soldiers Gallery Gives Back to the Community with Texas Bomanite Concrete Dye Patene Teres Polished Concrete Floors

The family’s reaction to the portrait changed Phil’s life forever and he began the American Fallen Soldiers Project. Since its inception in 2007, over 220 portraits have been painted and presented as a gift to Gold Star families of fallen soldiers all over the country at no cost to the families.

To keep the gallery costs down for this very special project, Bomanite Licensee, Texas Bomanite discounted the retail price as a donation towards the project’s success and was honored to be part of this special space. The decorative concrete floors consisted of 3,040 square feet of Bomanite Concrete Dye in Black Orchid using the Bomanite Patène Teres system polished to a 400 grit. The Polyurea Joint Filler was in the color Gauntlet Grey. The strength and durability of the polished concrete floors is a perfect, permanent, custom finish for the gallery.

The beautiful elegant American Soldiers Fallen Project is a place of peace and solace through art and displays in a setting of inspiration and healing. An especially poignant display is an American flag with the stripes covered by photos of the fallen. In his portraiture work, Phil Taylor takes special care in not only capturing the features but the actual essence of the fallen soldier he is painting. It is not just a typical portrait painting, but more the life and energy, the appearance and the personality, of the person represented on canvas. By telling the stories of those who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice, the gallery strives to change the lives of generations to come. It truly is a Portrait Gallery Like No Other.

Vizient Honors Fallen Soldier Dane Balcon through American Fallen Soldiers Project (2018)

Vizient, in collaboration with American Fallen Soldiers Project, are honored to commemorate Army Specialist Dave Balcon who died while conducting combat operations in Iraq. To honor Balcon, Vizient presented his family with a portrait of Dane painted by artist, Phil Taylor, founder of the American Fallen Soldiers Project. We thank Dane for his service to our country as he dedicated his life to protecting the freedoms we all enjoy. To learn more about this year’s award visit newsroom.vizientinc.com or americanfallensoldiers.com.

First Texas Honda Installs Bomanite Systems

August 30, 2018

To meet specific flooring design requirements throughout the building, Licensee Texas Bomanite, worked with project designer Architect’s Inc. in the initial design phase for First Texas Honda. The result ended with four different flooring systems to accommodate the long-standing dealerships future expansion. Founded in 1964 as Continental Cars, First Texas Honda is a part of family-owned and operated Continental Automotive Group in Austin. In late 2012, they completed a state-of-the-art renovation to the Steck Avenue showroom making it the largest Honda dealership in the world at over 140,000 square feet.

Texas Bomanite installed 95,665 square feet of Bomanite Custom diamond polished concrete flooring in the service areas and service drive. The finishes ranged from 800 grit to 100 grit. In the showroom area and service building, 37,150 square feet of custom colored Bomanite Micro-Top was installed with over 40,000 linear feet of decorative scoring. The highlight of the showroom was the Honda logo. 270 square feet of the front entry features the Bomanite Broadcast Aggregate system, and the front entry walks and bridge deck features over 7,515 square feet of the Bomanite’s Sandscape Exposed Aggregate system.

Bomanite Exposed Aggregate System – Sandscape Texture
Bomanite Sandscape® Texture is designed for outdoor applications where an alternate to a conventional concrete finish is required. Utilizing specialized mix designs, additives, topical treatments and advanced application procedures, Bomanite Sandscape Texture resembles sand blasted concrete. First Texas Honda chose Sandscape Texture for the exterior walkways for its durability in all-weather situations, slip resistance for pedestrians and durability for car parking.

Bomanite Toppings System – Broadcast Aggregate
The Bomanite Broadcast Aggregate System is a multi-layered architectural and protective flooring system with a non-skid decorative surface. Bomanite Broadcast Aggregate uses a multitude of surface seeded fine aggregates such as colored quartz, silica carbide or other hard minerals that create a highly durable, minimal maintenance surface which is easy to clean and maintain in a wide variety of environments including the First Texas Honda entry way that was custom colored to complement the recognizable Honda Blue.

Bomanite Toppings Systems – Micro-Top
The Bomanite Micro-Top system utilizes a troweled-on cementitious topping that tenaciously bonds to virtually any substrate, including concrete, wood, metal, plastic or asphalt. Micro-Top can be installed as interior flooring, spotted as accent areas, continued up a wall, traversed up the side of a building or applied directly to a street section or used for logo creation. Micro-Top offers the unique ability to cover a variety of surfaces with a wide range of colors and graphics, while also providing a cost-effective method to achieve multiple colors without the excessive costs associated with elaborate forming and design work, making it the perfect selection for the Honda Logo and continuation of the Honda brand throughout the showroom and customer service areas.

Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems – VitraFlor
VitraFlor utilizes select un-colored concrete that is placed and finished to standards required for decorative polished concrete flooring. The concrete is ground to expose the desired amount of aggregate, then polished to the required gloss level and treated with a Bomanite stain resist. The primary benefit to Bomanite VitraFlor is the simplicity of installation, durability and low maintenance of the finished floor. With no topical dyes or products utilized to color the concrete, this makes Bomanite VitraFlor cost effective in comparison to other more labor and product intensive systems and an easy choice for First Texas Honda Service Bay areas.

MMGY Global Marketing Firm Chooses Bomanite Modena SL Polished Concrete to Replace old Cork Flooring

June 20, 2018

MMGY, the largest integrated travel marketing organization in the world, and Lisa Jensen Design contacted Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, for a decorative concrete flooring solution for the outdated, 800 square foot lobby of their office. The existing flooring was a worn cork flooring that showed wear and damaged from years of use.

The client, MMGY, wanted a “white polished concrete floor” to enhance and complement the new sleek design of the total space. They were looking for a thin overlay application to achieve the desired finish and timeframe. The Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polishing System was proposed and samples were created for client review of the final color and finish.

Bomanite Modena SL is a polymer-modified, cementitious interior bonded floor topping that is blended with selected decorative aggregates then placed with no finishing. Once fully cured Bomanite Modena SL is machine ground to expose the aggregates and polished to the desired gloss level.

The project was a fast-track installation in order to keep a minimum disruption to the MMGY operation. Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polishing System may be lightly walked on 12 hours after placement, which provides a benefit for needed accelerated renovations. On a Thursday evening, prep began with removing the existing cork flooring, grinding the exposed concrete sub base, and then applying Bomanite XP Primer with a sand broadcast. The next morning the Bomanite Modena SL integrally colored product was poured and size 0 and size 1 white terrazzo glass was blended into the overlay. On Saturday, the floor was polished and completed. The client was able to be back at work within 48 hours.

The finished floor is a gorgeous representative of the options available for Bomanite Custom Polished Concrete and how Bomanite’s Modena SL system delivers the design flexibility of decorative architectural concrete. The Modena system can transform existing or worn surfaces into beautiful walkways, showrooms and lobbies and is available in a range of colors and patterns using decorative sawcuts. Additional topically applied stains and a variety of aggregates, such as recycled glass or porcelain along with regionally sourced materials, are all options in creating a beautifully designed, environmentally friendly and functional floor.

Bomanite Decorative Concrete Creates a Harmonious Hardscape

May 24, 2017

The Northside Church decided to reinvent their stretch of lawn as a dynamic new multi-purpose plaza, the primary goal was to create something special, whether it be for celebrating the birth of a child, affirming one’s faith or for friends and family gatherings and church events welcoming one and all. The church’s goal was to provide a place for people to connect – to their faith and to one another.

The church saw several different decorative concrete projects, reviewed several hard samples to select the final material. The final scope of work included 41,000 square feet of exposed decorative concrete flat work, 650 lineal feet of walls, and some 4,000 square feet of the Bomanite Custom Polished Concrete Patène Teres System in The Frappe House. Northside Christian Church ended up selecting a combination of the Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Systems; Sandscape Refined Antico finish in Bomanite Light Brown, and Bomanite Sandscape Texture in three colors to get the cohesive yet varied look they wanted in order to connect the exterior spaces.

To expand the range of interest and energize the plaza during daily use, The Frappe House, the new handcrafted coffee shop was built animating the baptismal pool and amphitheater seating. In all, the plaza design objectives were to connect the church’s primary entrance, the youth ministry center next door and the coffee shop while also servicing individual and group baptismal celebrations in a harmonious space. The design blends a lot of forms and walls, rock work and fire pits, along with both integrated and movable seating choices. Roll up garage doors and rough raw materials fill The Frappe House to capture contemporary design sensibilities common to many chain coffee shops.

The challenge was in working to accommodate a diverse program of possible uses and group sizes. Appropriate exterior spaces that accommodate many different groups and purposes also had to be fit into a relatively small area tucked between three structures of independent functions. Creating harmonious connections throughout the plaza while having a modern, socially contemporary design aesthetic led to the use of curvy linear patterns spiraling out from the baptismal pool in the center of the design. Radiating outward, the patterns form seating areas, viewing sections and gathering spaces as the plaza steps up from the baptismal pool toward each building. The use of curves allows the energy of each space to easily be focused on either the main building it serves or conversely toward the center during baptisms. The key to tying it all together was in the primary hardscape choice – Bomanite decorative concrete.

Exposed Aggregate Bomanite — Northside Christian Church – Sandscape Refined Antico

Polished Concrete Bomanite Concrete Dye — Northside Christian Church Coffee House – Custom Polishing System Patene Teres

JayHawks Shine with Bomanite Integral Colored Polished Concrete

April 18, 2017

The Kansas University School of Business Capitol Federal Hall serves as a destination point for students who are determined to move business forward. From state-of-the-art technology to research labs, this will be a hub for collaboration and innovation.

Bomanite Licensee, Musselman and Hall Contractors worked closely with the local architecture firm, Gastinger Walker, during the design development phase of the project allowing the project specifications and samples to be fine-tuned, making sure this 166,500 square foot four story facility was at the top of its class. The work completed earned Musselman and Hall the Gold Award for the Best Bomanite Custom Polishing Project at the 2017 Bomanite Conference. The Kansas University School of Business Capitol Federal Hall has 20 classrooms, a 350 set auditorium and nearly two dozen collaborative spaces.

The atrium lobby, common area, and gathering space was completed with the Bomanite Custom Polishing Renaissance system. The large common area in the atrium lobby was designed to be a living room-like “entrepreneurship incubator” with 15,800 square feet of 4” thick integrally colored topping slab. The slab was integrally colored with Bomanite’s Coal Gray. The slab was ground to a “salt & pepper” aggregate exposure and polished to a semi-gloss finish. The placement of the topping slab included multiple sets of cast-in-place steps as well as an ADA accessible ramp.

The centerpiece of the project, and building as a whole, is the 24’ diameter Jayhawk symbol at the west entry of the atrium lobby. The Jayhawk involved the installation of an intricate zinc inlay with a polishable overlay. To learn more about the KU School of Business and see the development of the facility visit: http://capfedhall.ku.edu/

The Smart Choice for School Cafeterias is Bomanite Polished Concrete Floors

December 14, 2016

The design team for Upper Iowa University wanted a flooring option for their student center which achieved the same look as coated acid stained floor without the maintenance the coating requires. When approached by the construction management firm with the clients wants and needs, Bomanite Licensee, Concrete Arts located in Hudson, WI proposed Bomanite polished and dyed concrete floors for the answer.

Together it was decided that the Bomanite Patène Teres level two polished concrete system would be used. A custom blend of Bomanite Warm Honey and Bomanite Malt Brown Concrete Dyes were used to create a stained patina look, with Turquoise accents. The polished concrete floors deliver low maintenance and durability for thousands of students that walk the floors throughout the year.

Upper Iowa University was so thrilled with the look of the floor it decided to utilize it in the new Student Book Store and Liberal Arts Center. The book store incorporated a similar polished floor look and had polished concrete counter tops for the bar in the Student Center installed. The Liberal Arts building utilized precast stair treads with an open-riser look as well to create even more continuity from space to space.