What is terrazzo and where do you find it?

Smooth like marble and durable like concrete, terrazzo’s crack-free surface and fully customisable pattern and colour options make it the sustainable material of the moment. Here’s how and where to use it.

By HANGHAR and James Wormald

June 20, 2023 | 10:00 pm CUT

Terrazzo floors and surfaces feature highlights of gold and blue that bring out the bold yellow and turquoise in the colour-blocked interior and accents of House P. Photo: Jonathan Leijonhufvud

Essentially beginning as a way to use old offcuts of natural stone materials such as marble, quartz and granite, the 600-year-old technique of creating terrazzo surfaces is enjoying a particularly strong moment in today’s reuse culture. But sustainability isn’t the only calling card terrazzo has.

The features that really put the manufactured composite material at the top of many designers’ wish lists, are its mixture of hardwearing durability, crack-free water resistance and a near endlessly customisable palette of colour and pattern. And although the use of terrazzo originates, as the name suggests, from floor-level surfacing, it also lends itself perfectly to other surfaces and even products, too.

Display product Palladiana- 7 from manufacturer Karoistanbul

Karoistanbul

Palladiana- 7

9 Variants

Chunky Palladiana terrazzo tiles from Karoistanbul (top), Annnd Cafe’s hand-smashed green marble terrazzo (middle) and the terrazzo floor of LH135 (bottom). Photos: Tong Xia (middle), Imagen Subliminal (bottom)

Starting from the ground up: terrazzo begins on the floor

With the Latin word for earth (terra) giving terrazzo its name, the material has a long and illustrious history with flooring. While it can be poured and cast on-site to fill any size and shape of surface area, as the cement binding the stone pieces together can expand and contract as it dries, the larger the area, the more susceptible it is to cracking. This means large flooring solutions are often separated with metal inserts or installed in the form of pre-cast tiles like Palladiana tiles from Karoistanbul.

The large pieces of discarded green marble in the terrazzo floor were smashed by hand on-site

The strikingly chunky pieces seen in the Palladiana range make a heavy initial impact on a floor’s aesthetic, making the tiles a perfect solution for hospitality spaces. At the Annnd Cafe by Ruhaus Studio, for example, the large pieces of discarded green marble in the terrazzo floor were smashed by hand on-site. With the speckled effect created by smaller pieces, meanwhile – such as in the terrazzo flooring at the LH135 Offices Restoration by MARIANO – the subtle pattern can add depth to interiors. When combined with more impactful colours on the LH135 offices ceilings, the terrazzo floor stops the workplace from feeling blocky and two-dimensional.

Matching colours at House P (top) and the Ne-On Apartment (middle) and moulded kitchen sink at First House (bottom). Photos: Jonathan Leijonhufvud (top), Hey!Cheese (middle), Luis Diaz Diaz (bottom)

Friends in hygienic places: terrazzo on kitchen surfaces

Due to the opportunity for customisation in the shape, size and especially the colour of its constituent parts, the terrazzo pattern is one that deserves to get noticed on surfaces all over interiors, not just down on the floor. Yellow and turquoise emerge from the terrazzo surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom of House P, by MDDM Studio, for example, to echo the colour accents around the home. And even in spaces where a more subtle, reserved palette is in place like the pastel blue and natural wood at the Ne-On Apartment by NestSpace Design, terrazzo surfaces can tie them all together.

Yellow and turquoise emerge from House P’s terrazzo surfaces to echo the colour accents around the home

Due to its durability, combined with a smooth, crack-free formation, terrazzo is a highly functional and ultra-hygienic surface solution for kitchen worktops as in the two projects above, but the ability to be poured into a mould means the material also has a sculptural quality that’s perfect for integrated kitchen sinks too, such as in the First House by HANGHAR.

Display product Balcony - white from manufacturer Urbi et Orbi

Urbi et Orbi

Balcony - white

3 Variants

Mambo Unlimited Ideas

Frame II suspension lamp

1 Variant

Products that utilise the pattern, colour and material features of terrazzo include the Balcony washstand from Urbi et Orbi (top) and the Frame II lighting series from Mambo Unlimited Ideas (middle, bottom)

Display product Frame wall lamp from manufacturer Mambo Unlimited Ideas

Mambo Unlimited Ideas

Frame wall lamp

3 Variants

Smaller scale terrazzo used in decorative accent products

These functional, customisable and decorative features of terrazzo make it a useful material for designers to specify for interiors, but the same features also make it a popular material for product designers, too. The long-lasting durability of waterproof terrazzo, combined with the monotone aesthetic that’s possible with the mosaic-like pattern, make Urbi et Orbi’s wall-hung Balcony washstand a possibility. And Mambo Unlimited Ideas make extremely good use of terrazzo’s ability to tie colour palettes together, combining the dark blues and blacks of its lighting pendants’ steel structure with the warm yellow hue of its rattan pattern and the soft white of the light itself, all with an accompanying geometric piece of terrazzo.

Display product Terrazzo Bleu from manufacturer ISIDORE LEROY

2 Variants

Wallpapers like Terrazzo Bleu from Isidore Leroy (top) and Terrazzo from WallPepper (middle) and imitation vinyl tiles like Spacia from Amtico (bottom) bring the pattern and colour of terrazzo without the difficulty

Amtico

Spacia Stones - 0,55 mm | Capri

Real-look non-terrazzo surfaces are a realistic alternative

The popularity of terrazzo as a pattern as well as a material means it’s consistently covered by imitating surface solutions as well. Along with extending terrazzo’s reach, PVC-free and washable wallpapers like the impact-resistant Terrazzo Bleu from Isidore Leroy or the PET-recycled and acoustic Terrazzo from WallPepper introduce terrazzo to more environments. When added to projects with vinyl tiles, meanwhile, terrazzo floors can be fast and simple to apply. The busy terrazzo pattern of Amtico’s Spacia range, for example, makes it difficult to see the lines in between the installed tiles, helping to give a smoother, more realistic finish.

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