St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago, IL

When St. Ignatius College Prep sought to replace brick and the carpeted flooring, it looked to the versatility of terrazzo. The private college prep school near Chicago’s West Side called in Chicago-based Amici Terrazzo to design and build a seven-color terrazzo floor that would preserve the school’s historical qualities while serving its needs as an event space. The finished product was upgraded from the building’s worn-down brick and carpet flooring.

For Amici co-founder Carmine Tucci, the color selection, the use of the different stones and the ability able to incorporate the school colors to make it blend in a sophisticated way were the highlights of this project. Given that the school also functions as an event space and has an award-winning garden, the design of the flooring helps to make it all flow together well, he said.

Though more modern terrazzo materials were used, it was important that the finished design looked original, but it was a bit tricky to blend blue, brown, maroon and gold hues to match the ceiling and other existing aesthetics, Tucci said. It would have been easier to put in a border or come up with a simple pattern, but the chosen pattern really represented the age of the school.

“I really enjoyed the color selection and using the different types of stone and being able to use their school colors and make it blend without it looking like a grade school or a children’s place. It’s more sophisticated than a typical school pattern,” Tucci said.

Despite the time constraints, Tucci said the project went well, and he enjoyed having more freedom to come up with design ideas. His design ideas were well received, as the project won an NTMA 2016 Honor Award.

“I brought them a bunch of sketches and pictures and worked with their in-house project supervisor to come up with a nice pattern,” Tucci said. “I’ve usually been able to have influence on design and color selections, but not this much. It felt good that they trusted me.”

See Related Projects