The redesign of the Bush Foundation in Saint Paul, Minnesota was inspired by the guiding principle of better by design. The goal was to create creative gathering spaces, smaller personal offices in order to have larger meeting areas spread around the office. An office to celebrate their accomplishments and what is to become. Color, light, art and materials layered into an environment of open ceilings and mix materials to create a vibrant inspiring atmosphere.
By creating an open space plan and reducing the amount of finish materials, including floor and ceiling tiles by opting for an open deck and finished concrete floor, ensure no added materials would go into the landfill or cause off-gassing. Finishing floors with concrete offers texture, warmth and easy to maintain interior finish.
In areas where carpet was requires, Flor carpet tiles from Interface were incorporated. Interface is the leading carpet fabricator the use recycled materials, recycle all of their tiles, clean manufacturing (less water and waste) and also develop carpet technology to eliminate both off-gassing and growth of pathogens. Interface carpet if certified GreenGuard and Floorscore for these qualities.
If you are looking to use concrete in tenet improvement projects, the best source is what is existing. Most building will have concrete floors. Can you save these by polishing and sealing? If not, try re-coating by non-toxic concrete overlays such as Ecoprocote My contractors are always amazed at how strong this product is, without any of the toxic chemicals.
You can also achieve a similar look by using a large format tile with a rectified edge such as Porcelanosa with the added benefit of incorporating recycled materials. Just be sure to use an uncoupling membrane such as Schluter Ditra. This will ensure any movement in your structure will not affect the tile (IE no cracking)
