The Alumafloor Story


The Test
The world-famous Chicago architectural firm of Holabird & Root wished to appoint one of their headquarters conference rooms and reception area with a dashing twist, aluminum flooring. How intriguing!So intriguing, that they could not find anyone who made it or installed it. Not the industrial material type found in loading docks and freight elevators but a product with a modern look. They ended up at the door of a trusted supplier / installer of floor coverings in the Chicago commercial flooring market. With the concept in mind, the product was developed, tested and applied to Holabird & Root's conference room floor.
The Project
Soon the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) announced the winner of its international competition to design two major new structures on its famous Ludwig Mies van der Rohe campus on Chicago's near South Side.Helmut Jahn, was selected for the new State Street Village student housing towers, while International icon Rem Koolhaas's Office of Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam was chosen for the new McCormick Tribune Campus Center in Chicago.
Koolhaas created a partnership with Holabird & Root for design development and structural engineering. Holabird & Roots conference room floor was actually an audition for the world's largest aluminum floor installation at IIT.