A café in the middle of Istanbul, in one of the city's trendy neighborhoods: the design of a new branch of the "Espresso Lab" coffee house chain had to meet very different requirements. The renovation took place in a narrowly built street in a 250-year-old building. At the same time, the design of the new café had to fit into the lively, modern nightlife district. This was achieved with a Pandomo terrazzo floor from Ardex, which gives the entire first floor of the large coffee house a very special atmosphere.
In February 2019, the globally expanding coffee house chain "Espresso Lab" opened a new branch in Istanbul. "Taksim Tunel" is its name and it is located in the Beyoğlu district near the famous Taksim Square - between stores and restaurants, galleries and bars on the İstiklâl promenade, and thus on the most famous street in the city. In other words, it's just the right place to relax with a freshly roasted coffee in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Turkish metropolis.
The three-story building was renovated for the reopening of the coffee house. A modern, "European" design was required. The floor on the first floor of the café, which extends over two floors, was also to contribute to a spacious, inviting ambience. It also had to match the reddish brick walls and the elongated counter with marble top on the first floor. At the same time, the floor needed to be slip-resistant, easy to maintain, and able to withstand the heavy use that comes with being a restaurant in such a bustling neighborhood.
Renovation in 250-year-old building
The building in which the branch of the Turkish coffee experts found its home is already 250 years old. Accordingly, the entire infrastructure in the building was getting on in years. The subfloor was also uneven and full of holes and presented a particular challenge for the installation of a new floor surface, mainly because of its lack of strength. It was not possible to reinforce the floor because the building's location in the narrowly built-up street meant that it was not possible to carry out site work over the entire area. The operator of the coffee house is not the owner, but merely the tenant of the location and was therefore looking for a practical and economically viable solution for the floor surface.
Fine decorative flooring
In view of the difficult conditions, the experts consulted from the building materials manufacturer Ardex suggested using ARDEX A 38 rapid screed to create a level, ready-to-occupy subfloor on which to lay a terrazzo floor. The architect was convinced by this practical and solution-oriented approach. Together with the client, he decided on a floor surface made of the noble decor floor PANDOMO TerrazzoBasic /Plus on the first floor of the large café.
PANDOMO TerrazzoBasic is based on traditional terrazzo techniques. The trowel compound offers a wide range of possibilities for individual and innovative surface design for floors, walls and ceilings. It comes up with more lively structures than classic terrazzo floors and is particularly suitable for the production of quickly usable and ready-to-install mineral decorative floors. By adding regional aggregates, an individual and regional character can be achieved. For the first floor in the Istanbul coffee house, the client and restaurant operator chose a gray terrazzo floor with a grain of white and black onyx stones.
Design of 200 square meters of floor space
The flooring installers from SFS Floor in Istanbul first had to create a firm, level subfloor in the new "Espresso Lab" branch. They created this from a two to five centimeter high screed structure made of ARDEX A 38 and the thin screed ARDEX K 80. On top of this, they laid separating rails and end profiles and applied the PANDOMO TerrazzoBasic/Plus decorative floor over an area of 200 square meters. The stairs in the entrance area and the benches on the walls were also designed with this flooring.
The terrazzo floor was laid as a floating floor in a thickness of five centimeters and in fields of 3.5 x 5 meters. The Ardex team on site supported the specialist company throughout the entire site preparation and construction process with its expert advice. As a result, the installers were able to lay the decorative floor quickly in February 2019, and the coffee house opened its doors on time.
