This spectacular terrazzo installation is found in a newly renovated office building at 533 W. 57th Street, on Manhattan’s west side. A fine example of traditional Palladiana terrazzo, the project won high ratings in the National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association (NTMA) annual Honor Awards competition for its creative artisanship. The hand-crafted project was one of 16 entries by NTMA contractor members that the NTMA recognized in 2021 for outstanding quality based on aesthetics, scope, and workmanship.
Single source
With large, paver-like marble slabs, this installation typifies the classic Palladiana technique. Here, as is specified in Palladiana installations, the stone pieces are embedded in an epoxy or cement substrate and infilled with terrazzo, poured on site. The entire installation is an epoxy thin-set system, 3/8-inch thick. Like all terrazzo systems, the finished Palladiana surface is durable and seamless, with no grout lines.
Palladiana terrazzo exemplifies the design flexibility of terrazzo. A Palladiana application extends the range of aggregate sizes used in standard terrazzo installation: from the streamlined look of micro-aggregate to heavier texture and contrast in standard sizes of aggregate, on to the larger chips of the Venetian style, and finally, Palladian’s stone slabs.
The textured, monochromatic Palladiana terrazzo installation in this lobby and elevator cabs was produced with marble shards sourced from the same French Blue de Savoie panels as clad the walls.
Single Artisan
In this stunning lobby design by Dan Shannon, partner at Mdeas in New York City, irregularly shaped stone pieces were specified, as is typical of traditional Palladiana. The stones were hand-set in a rhythmic composition with half-inch spacing of remarkable uniformity.
Each marble slab, approximately two inches, was hand-fractured and hand-placed, the broadest side set at the surface. This painstaking task had to be carried out by a single installer to ensure consistency in the pattern, reported John Magnan of D. Magnan of Mt. Vernon, NY, an NTMA member contractor since 1948.
Single Surface
The existing staircase—treads, nosing, and a recessed riser—was overlayed in precast segments of the same Palladiana terrazzo as the floor, produced in the contractor’s workshop. Once adhered to the substrate and polished, the precast sections’ joints are undetectable; the whole appears to be of a single element.
The surfaces of the marble shards are revealed taking the turn of the nosing on the perfectly detailed steps, which is particularly striking. The steps are finished with 1/8-inch brass strips for slip resistance.
Palladiana terrazzo is named for Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It evolved from the opus incertum construction technique of Ancient Rome, which set uncut stones in cement. Today’s Palladiana, like all terrazzo systems, has an affinity for recycled materials and generally still follows the original Roman in situ model—integrated directly into the floor onsite using raw materials.
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