Product Focus: ArtSphere

Of all our latest products and systems, there is one that stands out as the most creative and innovative. Our ArtSphere floors are evidence of just how unique a Sphere8 floor can be… and we’ve had some very creative clients over the years! Although we’ve offered bespoke floors for the last 8 years, it’s only as Sphere8 that we have dedicated a specific product to finding innovative solutions to whatever you can dream up! So we thought it was time to look back at some of our most exciting ArtSphere projects…

One of our most enduring projects is our installation at Zerodegrees in London. This space is a bar-restaurant-microbrewery, with a lively and dynamic atmosphere – it stands to reason that it needs a cool and unique interior! The bespoke ArtSphere floor was developed from our Motion floors that blend two pigments to create a polished concrete-effect finish. In this project the client wanted to “turn the volume up” on this normally subtle and discrete effect. Instead we developed a bespoke “Motion blend” using three colours that created a much more dynamic and dramatic pattern! When creating a Motion floor we usually blend the two pigments quite thoroughly, so that there are some subtle variations in colour – in this case they were essentially poured separately to create this dramatic marbled effect! A completely bespoke vision that we met with a new approach to our standard technique!

© Sphere8, 2022

Inspired by this, we looked at other ways we could create Motion floors with a difference! One of our first forays into colourful floors was an ArtSphere creation – when the client requested a floor that echoed the effects of the Mediterranean! We now offer 8 different Jewel toned floors (including Topaz and Turquoise), but this one was a floor with a difference… Rather than blending two pigments at the same time, we layered the colours, so areas of blue or turquoise or blue show through rather than swirling together. A unique approach to a coloured floor – and one that the client was very happy with!

© Sphere8, 2022

Since rebranding as Sphere8 we have deliberately created very specific flooring systems and new colour groups – so a bright yellow floor or a bespoke image or pattern is no longer a challenging or unusual request. That isn’t to say that we haven’t come across new and even more demanding ArtSphere floors! Recently more and more clients have requested glitter finishes – a particularly challenging design spec as glitter doesn’t like to distribute itself evenly within resin! Pouring resin with glitter in, or scattering a glitter layer above the body coat and under the seal coat, is either way a hand-applied process that takes skill and precision. We can obviously also dictate whether the glitter is very dense or a light shimmer across a more noticeable background colour – and what type or size of glitter is used! There are specific crews we entrust with this, but in every case it has turned out amazingly and we’ve had some very pleased clients!

© Sphere8, 2022

The amazing benefit of our ArtSphere system is its total flexibility – whatever you can imagine we can try to create. In the past, we’d never attempted glitter resin floors – now our warehouse is full of samples and we’ve installed completely different glitter floors for very different clients. We look forward to seeing what is asked of us next… developing another unique ArtSphere floor!