V&A East Museum

Lying at the heart of Stratford Waterfront, the new museum is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design. Naturally the architects and trustees of the museum were looking for an ultra hard wearing floor that would complement the unique design aesthetic of the building.

More than 4,000 m2 of our signature Diamond Polished Concrete spans four levels, featuring matching benches. The concrete flooring incorporated two different types of limestone aggregate, a grey and a white. The white aggregate was seeded into the surface to create a warm, monochrome aesthetic. The completely unique look was developed over the production of 20 bespoke samples.

The installation of the concrete flooring and treads took place over a two and a half year period and featured over 30 concrete pours. Each pour had to be carefully planned to ensure that the colour and aggregate of the floor was consistent across all areas and levels.

As the polished concrete finish was required to continue over the multiple staircases on the project, Lazenby cast over 700 matching treads and landing tiles in over 20 bespoke sizes, all cast in our Somerset factory and installed on site. The black GRC nosing was a ground breaking design that was designed and developed by Lazenby over a 4 month period. This featured a black concrete strip that was set within the diamond polished tread with no visible joint between the two. This nosing strip offered a striking contrast to the lighter-toned flooring as well as achieving the required contrasts for DDA compliance.