Project 791

Best Flooring Solution, Most Aggressive Timeline / Schedule, Toughest Site Conditions

Photos by: Certified Photography

Certified Finishes

Design by Universal Creative Studio

Orlando, FL
6/30/21

Details:

Best Flooring Solution

As a working movie studio and highly visited theme park resort destination, Universal Studios is open to millions of visitors year round so all new construction site work must be completed under the veil of the night sky. All of our delivery and installation crews were only allowed to work between 10 PM and 7 AM. Everything had to be clean and off property each morning no later than 7 AM which makes it a little difficult to manage. In addition to the time constraint, we didn't have enough time allotted to polish all of the concrete so we had to request starting at 9 PM and working long shifts to complete and still be out of the park by 7 AM. We were able to meet the unrealistic time constraints provided so that the ride could be opened on time. We also had some time delays because some parts needed to custom cut the granite for the area around the carts was unavailable which caused our team to have to send in a second crew to help install the stairs to finish up the project in time for the soft launch to season pass holders. Installing floors as the basis of design for a theme park ride is a little difficult because sometimes using the entire space to help tell a story and create an immersive experience is great but a specific looks can be hard to recreate with actual materials. At the entry of the VelociCoaster ride, the designers wanted the polished concrete to have metal inlays but they weren't sure how to achieve this design so our project manager Maryan Bracho, suggested using Schluter sticks glued with epoxy adhesive and it worked beautifully to achieve the design directive. Certified Finishes is proud to have partnered with this creative client, providing elemental details in the flooring to help build suspense and set the stage for a journey through Jurassic World on the much anticipated VelociCoaster thrill ride.

Most Aggressive Timeline / Schedule

As a working movie studio and highly visited theme park resort destination, Universal Studios is open to millions of visitors year round so all new construction site work must be completed under the veil of the night sky. All of our delivery and installation crews were only allowed to work between 10 PM and 7 AM. Everything had to be clean and off property each morning no later than 7 AM which makes it a little difficult to manage. In addition to the time constraint, we didn't have enough time allotted to polish all of the concrete so we had to request starting at 9 PM and working long shifts to complete and still be out of the park by 7 AM. We were able to meet the unrealistic time constraints provided so that the ride could be opened on time. We also had some time delays because some parts needed to custom cut the granite for the area around the carts was unavailable which caused our team to have to send in a second crew to help install the stairs to finish up the project in time for the soft launch to season pass holders. Installing floors as the basis of design for a theme park ride is a little difficult because sometimes using the entire space to help tell a story and create an immersive experience is great but a specific looks can be hard to recreate with actual materials. At the entry of the VelociCoaster ride, the designers wanted the polished concrete to have metal inlays but they weren't sure how to achieve this design so our project manager Maryan Bracho, suggested using Schluter sticks glued with epoxy adhesive and it worked beautifully to achieve the design directive. Certified Finishes is proud to have partnered with this creative client, providing elemental details in the flooring to help build suspense and set the stage for a journey through Jurassic World on the much anticipated VelociCoaster thrill ride.

Toughest Site Conditions

As a working movie studio and highly visited theme park resort destination, Universal Studios is open to millions of visitors year-round so all new construction site work must be completed under the veil of the night sky. All of our delivery and installation crews were only allowed to work between 10 PM and 7 AM. Everything had to be clean and off property each morning no later than 7 AM which makes it a little difficult to manage. In addition to the time constraint, we didn't have enough time allotted to polish all of the concrete so we had to request starting at 9 PM and working long shifts to complete and still be out of the park by 7 AM. We were able to meet the unrealistic time constraints provided so that the ride could be opened on time. We also had some time delays because some parts needed to custom cut the granite for the area around the carts was unavailable which caused our team to have to send in a second crew to help install the stairs to finish up the project in time for the soft launch to season pass holders. Installing floors as the basis of design for a theme park ride is a little difficult because sometimes using the entire space to help tell a story and create an immersive experience is great but a specific looks can be hard to recreate with actual materials. At the entry of the VelociCoaster ride, the designers wanted the polished concrete to have metal inlays but they weren't sure how to achieve this design so our project manager Maryan Bracho, suggested using Schluter sticks glued with epoxy adhesive and it worked beautifully to achieve the design directive. Certified Finishes is proud to have partnered with this creative client, providing elemental details in the flooring to help build suspense and set the stage for a journey through Jurassic World on the much anticipated VelociCoaster thrill ride.

Suppliers:

Daltile
Tarkett
Jon Don, Schonox, Johnsonite