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The Opera Lofts condominiums in Downtown Chicago's South Loop have undergone a huge transformation in recent years. Once a warehouse for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the building has seen renovations to offer unique living areas near the site of what Chicago hopes will be the 2016 Olympic Village if the city wins its bid for the games.

The original building was constructed in sections in the early 1900s over the course of a dozen years. In some areas the ceiling heights are 31 feet high, allowing for some unique mezzanines and bright, open spaces in the condo floor plans. Artifacts from the opera days, such as props and posters, decorate the common areas. With all this potential for a first-class building, the Opera Lofts developer knew he needed a solution to bring life back to the 80-year-old chipped and worn concrete floor in the 1,200-square-foot lobby, the main entrance where condo owners, guests and potential buyers are greeted by their first impressions of the building.

The general contractor on the job, with help from his materials manufacturer, developed a repair system that produced a concrete canvas on which the specialty contractor could apply a one-of-a-kind acid stained finish to match the uniqueness and historic ambiance of the building while avoiding the mess and price tag associated with a tear out and installation of a new floor.

Choosing a floor system
The design team had a few elements to consider in deciding a course of action for rejuvenating the lobby floor. First, there was the issue of time. With various trades working throughout the building and condo owners going about their daily lives, the floor couldn't be off limits very long. That point alone pretty much restricted a removal and reinstallation, not to mention the value of avoiding the mess and noise associated with that type of construction. In addition, although the floor had some gouges in it and suffered the usual life of an 80-year-old warehouse floor, the concrete was still in good shape with only mild static shrinkage cracking.

Another constraint was the threshold at the main entrance - there was only a ¼ inch of working room between the existing floor and the threshold. When taken as a whole, these elements pointed to a repair and wear topping as the most reasonable choice to achieve the finish the owner and design team were looking for that could also accommodate those tight requirements.