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Mikhal Zambon, artScape: Las Vegas
by David Thompson
I have a very good friend that paints who I consider an artist. I don't put myself in that category, but I love what I do, and hopefully it shows. My background as well as Mike's makes us a good team. He owned his own construction company in Kansas City for years before coming to Las Vegas. While I get to focus on the end result, Mike has to figure out how to get there, price it, stage it, man it and coordinate it. Everyone has their own part, mine's just more fun! It's really the guys in the field who make us look good, though. We have been blessed with a group of employees who really care about what they do. They understand that we are only as good as our worst job, and they make us proud everyday. I can put it on paper, but if it doesn't get done right on the job, none of that matters. It's the attention to the littlest details that makes a difference.
End-users or designers who have looked at every other floor covering option that's out there before choosing concrete — because it gives them something aesthetically and/or because it solves a particular problem that no other medium could.
As far as noteworthy names, we've done work for the Bellagio, the Mirage, Sunset Station, and Green Valley Ranch. We also just completed Bally's porte cochere and 13,000 square feet at the Aqua Theater inside Wynn Las Vegas, (formerly La Reve). It's the newest Cirque du Soleil show on the strip with a 360-degree theater surrounding an enormous, circular tank that functions as the “stage.”
Last fall Mapei asked us to come help design and install their new showroom in Milan, Italy, which was a lot of fun. We did over 120 samples before the final 22 were selected. The language barrier was somewhat of a challenge, and that English-Italian dictionary I brought was more tourist-related than construction terminology. I could order a mean plate of gnocchi, but I couldn't get a four-inch hand grinder with a quarter-inch blade to save my life!
I think they are becoming more educated on the product, but rarely do they understand all the possibilities. One of the best things you can ask a client is what they DON'T want.
To me, they still remain more conservative and timeless, which I think they have to be. It's not like buying a trendy couch that when the trend is over, you replace it. These floors are a big investment and you want the design to stand the test of time.
I love mixing media. I think that stained concrete has a wonderfully earthy feel which natural stones or wood complement, and which glass mosaics or metallic inlays nicely contrast. Inlays just make the floor that much more interesting, and then those inlay materials can be used on backsplashes or countertops to pull the entire space together. We've never done anything specific to make sure inlays don't pop out other than using the proper setting material specific to the product and caulking them after the fact in case the inlay expands or contracts at a different rate than the concrete with ambient moisture or temperature.
Anyone who's done stains will tell you that you are not the master of your trade — stains react however they want to on any given day. The best you can hope for when things don't react the way they did on the sample that you got approved is to have a level of experience in knowing how to fix them.
PAINT!
Just recently we have formed a new company with Ken Aeschliman and Clint Walcott, called Architectural Stains Inc. It will be strictly union, to handle any casino work on the strip, as well as become the Bomanite licensee for Las Vegas. artScape will return to non-union residential and small commercial work.
Have pride in what you do and enjoy what you do. It will always show in the end product.
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Many of your floors incorporate inlaid glass, wood, stone and other objects. What precautions do you take so your inlays don't pop out?
