Paloma Pizza Bar, Hawthorn

Paloma Pizza Bar's Hawthorn restaurant needed a new floor without the time and mess of ripping up the existing tiles. It had to take the traffic of a busy restaurant and bar, clean easily, and suit a warm room of timber, arches and soft lighting.

Around 60 m² of microcement was applied by hand directly over the existing tiles, in a custom terracotta colour mixed for the project. Laying over the tiles avoided demolition and kept the floor build-up thin.

Preparation decides how a floor like this performs. The whole tiled area was ground back in full. Drummy tiles, ones that had lost their bond and sounded hollow underfoot, were removed and the voids filled. A reinforcing mesh coat then went over the entire floor, bridging the old grout lines so they don't show through, before the coloured coats and sealer.

The floor was completed in five days.

The terracotta floor runs without a joint from the dining room through to the pizza counter and kitchen pass, tying the timber, arches and warm lighting together. Without grout lines it is quick to clean between services.

For any restaurant weighing up a new floor, laying over sound existing tiles is often the faster, cleaner route: no tile removal, no screed, and far less downtime than a full demolition.