The tile scope for the Grand Helios Hotel at Universal’s Epic Universe represents one of the most extensive and technically demanding ceramic and stone installations completed by David Allen Company. Spanning over 92,000 square feet, the project encompassed tile and stone across 500 guestrooms, 58 showers, multiple rooftop bars, eight locker rooms, corridors, dining venues, and retail environments. The work included large-format porcelain, ceramic wall tile, custom mosaics, gauged porcelain panels, and stack stone, all installed using thin-set direct bond methods. Custom-fabricated transitions were critical to accommodating prefabricated POD bathrooms, especially in guestrooms where height differentials required custom thresholds. In high-impact areas like the Level 10 rooftop bar, tile was waterjet cut and dry-laid for layout verification before final installation, allowing precision alignment across radiused layouts. Complex carpet insets, multi-height patterns, and expansion joint transitions demanded continuous coordination with millwork, ceiling trades, and Universal Creative. Despite ongoing design revisions and a compressed schedule, David Allen Company delivered a flawless tile installation that supports the hotel’s celestial theming while meeting strict aesthetic, structural, and ADA compliance requirements.
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.
