Flooring Revolutionizes Chicago Apartments

Gensler’s Chicago branch, working with architecture firm FitzGerald Assocs., designed the interior amenities and individual units at the Spoke Towers. Angela Harper, senior associate at Gensler, said that they conducted much research on cost, thickness, durability, sound properties and aesthetics from different luxury vinyl tile (LVT) products across the industry.

A custom 5-mm thick Altro Lavencia LVT in the color Hampton Greige was the wood-look flooring of choice for all apartment, townhouse and penthouse living rooms—350,000-sq.-ft. worth.

“The ability to custom order the Hampton Greige color on the thicker product without any cost increase helped tremendously in making the choice,” said Harper. “And the effort by Altro to install a large scale mock-up was very helpful to us and the designer in finalizing the decision.”

Although Altro Lavencia glue-down LVT is manufactured at 3-mm thickness, this project required a thicker floor. Subcontractor and installer Mr. David’s Flooring requested the extra thickness to avoid needing a cork or similar underlayment for extra sound resistance, saving time and cost. The LVT allowed them to finish the 350,000-sq.-ft. installation six weeks before the scheduled completion date.

“Altro proved to be economically the better choice since there was so much quantity, yet also met the quality standards we were looking for,” Harper said.