Ruby Violet, Wharf Road, London

A design-led installation at a newly opened retail site in North London, using the innovative DesignSphere flooring system by Sphere8.

Ruby Violet is an ice-cream parlour founded by Julie Fisher, who wanted to create a completely unique interior for her organic, artisan ice creams and sorbets. Her inspiration was the area of original tiles in the listed Wharf Road property that she wanted to reference in her floor. Although the design referenced tiles, resin flooring was chosen for its practical characteristics and seamless, hygienic, benefits. Working closely with the client, the perfect design was created by scaling the tile pattern until it suited the space, The site posed a significant challenge as it was an irregular shape, with period features throughout. Because it was listed, no fundamental changes could be made to the building and a ‘reversible’ installation had to be devised. The poor quality concrete floor needed to first be covered by a double layer of glued and screwed plywood, before glass-fibre could consolidate the sub floor. After subfloor was prepped, to prevent witness marks showing from the modular subfloor, primer layers where then added, before the underlying blue pigment area. This was chosen as a base for the tile design and to minimise pixelation of the final pattern. The ‘image layer’ required expert installation to ensure perfect pattern matching of the regular tile pattern in an old irregular building. Finally a clear body coat was added, before the DiamondSphere Grip Seal Coat – which is extra tough with added friction.

Credits

• Sphere8
• Remmers (UK) Ltd