The Crayola Experience, in Orlando, Florida, is a place where children can discover “the magic of color.” There are 25 interactive attractions and children are encouraged to play, explore, and learn. With this emphasis on creativity, the crayon manufacturer wanted to make sure the facility was imaginative and colorful – even down to its floors.
To achieve floors that met Crayola’s color expectations required thinking “outside the (crayon) box.”
The Crayola Experience was going into an existing retail space, and when the demolition was done, the contractor found the concrete floor had many cracks and was in poor shape.
Tommy Clay, owner and general manager at Ardor Solutions of Oviedo, Florida, the flooring contractor, said, “We had planned to do a concrete stain but the floor required way too much work. Not only would repairing and staining the concrete be cost-prohibitive, but it also wouldn’t provide the vividness of the colors Crayola wanted.”
Fortunately, Clay knew of a product that he thought would be “a perfect match” – ComfortFloor from Sika Flooring. ComfortFloor is a seamless, fluid-applied urethane floor system that provides both comfort and toughness by combining softness under foot and durability. It also is available in custom colors.
“I like ComfortFloor because it is a softer floor, wears like iron, and is phenomenal in high-traffic areas,” Clay remarked.
“The Orlando Crayola Experience was designed to host 2,400 kids in the space at one time,” said David Roesler, manager of facilities design at Crown Center Redevelopment Company of Kansas City, Missouri, a subsidiary of Crayola owner Hallmark Cards. “These happy children can be a bit noisy, so I’m pleased with the acoustical properties of the ComfortFloor,” he added. “Plus if a child trips or takes a tumble there’s more cushion to the floor.”
There was an enormous amount of detail in the coloring and layout of the floor, which included abstract shapes and swirls. “Matching the PMS colors Crayola gave us was extremely difficult,” Clay commented. “We had to fool around quite a bit with pigment loads and base coats to obtain the exact colors.”
Fortunately, Clay knew he could always call on his Sika Flooring representatives if there were any problems. “There’s no better outfit to work with than Sika,” he remarked. “They are extremely willing to help in any situation.”
Roesler said that Crayola was impressed with the craftsmanship of Ardor Solutions and the durability of ComfortFloor. “We have the children working with a lot of melted wax but the floor cleans up beautifully,” he said. “We also like how it can be put over a damaged floor and span cracks.”
In fact, Crayola was so satisfied with the appearance and performance of ComfortFloor that it is hoping to use it in future Crayola Experiences.
“The end result was great. ComfortFloor is now our floor of preference,” Roesler stated.
Color Crayola happy.
