This project represents our largest commercial tenant improvement buildout by square footage completed in 2025, consisting of a six-floor, first-generation interior buildout. The flooring scope included polished concrete, carpet, tile, base, and rubber ESD flooring, requiring close coordination across systems and a high level of technical execution.
Prior to flooring installation, the concrete slab had been poured and cured under variable conditions, before the project team’s involvement. During the core and shell phase, the slab was burnished at finish, a process that can cosmetically mask underlying substrate deficiencies.
When the polishing scope began—requiring progressive grinding across multiple grit levels—the slab revealed random pock marks and pinholes throughout the surface. These conditions were unforeseen and incompatible with the requirements of a successful polished concrete system, particularly ahead of densifier application and final polishing.
To address this condition without compromising schedule or finish quality, the team implemented a targeted remediation strategy. Schonox SGH two-part crack repair compound was used to fill and stabilize the pinholes and pocking across the slab, restoring surface integrity and allowing the polishing process to proceed as designed.
Following remediation, the slab was successfully densified and polished, achieving the required performance and aesthetic standards.
Challenges & Solutions
Unknown slab curing conditions prior to project involvement
Solution: Conducted on-site evaluation during grinding to identify hidden substrate deficiencies.
Burnished slab masking underlying defects
Solution: Adjusted scope once grinding revealed pinholes and pock marks incompatible with polished concrete requirements.
Unforeseen surface defects discovered mid-process
Solution: Implemented Schonox SGH two-part crack repair compound to stabilize and fill defects prior to densification.
Maintaining schedule on a large, first-generation TI buildout
Solution: Rapid material selection, field coordination, and execution allowed polishing to continue without downstream delays.
Nancy Thiel, founder and principal of Thiel Architecture + Design, is a licensed architect and an interior designer. With 40+ years’ experience working with luminaries in the architecture world, including Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, and Rockwell Group, where she served as a studio leader, Thiel’s extensive portfolio includes single-family homes and multi-story residences, hotels, restaurants, retail, fitness clubs, offices, theaters, schools and shopping centers. She is a member of the AIA, holds NCARB certification and is a LEED accredited professional. Prior to her career in architecture, Thiel was a dancer and choreographer.
Thiel Architecture + Design is an award-winning multi-disciplinary architecture, interior design, planning, and product design firm with offices in CT and NY. The firm’s work focuses on high-end residential design as well as hospitality, contract, and retail projects. Thiel Architecture + Design’s work has been featured in Interior Design, Architype, New York and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens, Connecticut Magazine, Archello, and Fast Company magazines. In 2022, the firm received a Connecticut AIA Excellence award for Interior Architecture. Thiel earned a BA from Penn State University and her Master of Architecture degree from Syracuse University.
