Article Number : 4317 |
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| Date | 3/24/2009 12:25:29 PM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=4317 |
| Abstract | By Louis Iannaco In 2003, Chicago-based commercial salesman Frank Pozdol answered a famous architect’s plea for a tile that did not yet exist, except in the architect’s imagination. Now, just a few years later, Pozdol’s product is a functional and versatile reality that is... |
| Article | By Louis Iannaco In 2003, Chicago-based commercial salesman Frank Pozdol answered a famous architect’s plea for a tile that did not yet exist, except in the architect’s imagination. Now, just a few years later, Pozdol’s product is a functional and versatile reality that is showcased at the Parson’s School of Design. Specified by architects throughout the U.S. and beyond, Pozdol’s creation—AlumaFloor— is taking the industry by storm. Meanwhile, Pozdol— known by some of his colleagues as the “Aluminum God”—is still bidding jobs with the same down-to-earth, hands-on approach and personal involvement that earned him a reputation as a dependable, cost-conscious distributor back in the days when he was a struggling young salesman. Pozdol stumbled upon the need for his innovative product while quoting a carpeting job for a Chicago firm. The client mentioned that their architect specified aluminum flooring but could not find any. Pozdol started calling distributors and soon discovered no such product existed. So he decided to make it himself and got in touch with a metal fabricator to start experimenting. Working with sheets of aluminum in 3/16-inch or 1/8-inch thickness, a hand sanded matte finish is applied, with either beveled or ship-lap seams. The tiles are fully adhered without any gaps (no grouting) and many different shapes and sizes. “It took a couple years to get this right,” Pozdol recalled. “I’d go to the metal fabricator and we’d put the metal on the floor and polish it with a floor sander. Then we’d wax it and cut it into samples.” As it turns out, the architect was the world-renowned Rem Koolhaas, recognized as one of the greatest living architects in the world. He needed a special tile for a project at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT) McCormick Tribune Campus Center, and Pozdol delivered with marvelous results at a price far below the anticipated budget— a 23,000-square-foot job at a $750,000 value. With that initial success, AlumaFloor was born. “I got my daughter to come in and phone architects and then I’d go and show them samples,” Pozdol explained. “But I’d go to meet one person and after they saw the product they’d go get everyone else in the office and drag them over saying ‘You have got to see this!’ And when they found out that my first customer was Rem Koolhaas, they really paid attention.” At the IIT grand opening event, Pozdol not only met the Governor of Illinois, but was also approached by numerous architects and designers who wanted his product. Since then it has evolved as a stunning success in a variety of settings and high-impact applications. AlumaFloor can now be found in art museums, high-end condos, restaurants and office buildings. Koolhaas himself has used AlumaFloor in such diverse places as the Seattle Public Library (which has a LEED Silver rating) and the Prada store in Manhattan’s Soho district. Pozdol is currently busy providing AlumaFloor for the West Palm Beach headquarters of Munder Capital Investments, an investment company with over $30 billion in managed assets. The company’s owner and CEO found AlumaFloor on Pozdol’s Web site and insisted that it be used throughout the entire building. As soon as the AlumaFloor was installed, the space hosted a fundraiser for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Pozdol now has 25 representatives across the country and has moved away from the conventional floor covering business after paying dues for nearly 40 years. But he has no time to look back and be nostalgic, because every time the phone rings, it is someone he’s never met saying, “Our architect specified your product for our job.” The next big frontier for Pozdol is the glittery city of Las Vegas. With one job already behind him—7,000 square feet at the Luxor Hotel—he is now embarking on other projects. “The Hard Rock Café is next,” he concluded. “We began offering AlumaFloor in Las Vegas in 2008 and the reception has been absolutely phenomenal.” For more, call 630.628.0226. |