Project: Universal Epic Universe Celestial Park
Location: Orlando, Florida
Dates: 
Team: David Allen Company
Products: 

Project Overview

Located at the entrance to Universal’s newest theme park, Epic Universe, the Celestial Park polished concrete overlay project exemplifies the power of flooring to both perform and tell a story. This high-profile initiative brought together three architecturally and thematically distinct venues—Otherworlds Mercantile, Atlantic Restaurant, and Oak & Star Tavern—into one unified narrative of celestial wonder and artistic design. Spearheaded by the David Allen Company, the project involved more than 14,800 square feet of Rapid Set® TRU® Polishable Overlay, placed and polished under the tight deadlines and creative expectations of a world-renowned entertainment brand.

Project Size

The total project footprint was 14,800 square feet across three locations:

• Otherworlds Mercantile: 7,800 SF
• Atlantic Restaurant: 2,500 SF
• Oak & Star Tavern: 4,500 SF

Each location presented unique logistical, environmental, and design challenges and had to be completed with precision to meet park opening deadlines and demanding guest experience standards.

Project Difficulty

This project challenged every aspect of high-end flooring execution. Significant substrate cracking at Otherworlds Mercantile needed in-depth remediation: carbon fiber stitching, epoxy mortar repair, and application of a crack suppression membrane. At Atlantic Restaurant, a gradient floor design simulating movement from shore to sea required custom aggregate mixing and real-time coordination between multiple crews to ensure a seamless transition across the surface during a continuous pour. Oak & Star Tavern required integration of eight custom colors and alignment with the transitions to large-format tile floors, demanding a high level of detail in subfloor leveling and layout.

Uniqueness

Unlike typical flooring projects, this installation was as much about storytelling as performance. Each space featured distinct aesthetic goals tied to immersive themes achieved with no formal specifications, only conceptual direction. Floors were designed to reflect ceiling constellations, suggest ocean waves, or echo the warmth of a glowing tavern that was brought to life through custom color palettes, premium aggregates, and intricate brass inlays fabricated in-house. The result: one-of-a-kind, experience-driven flooring that directly supports the park’s storytelling and visual identity.

Innovative Construction Methods

David Allen Company used a range of advanced techniques:

• Live aggregate blending for in-pour color gradients
• In-house waterjet fabrication of brass inlays
• Full-scale layout mockups using stencils to ensure accuracy
• Carbon fiber structural repairs for slab stabilization
• Dual sealing system (Coval UTC + densifier) for enhanced gloss and durability
• Skudo protection mats used to preserve finishes during construction

These methods enabled them to meet the project’s aesthetic expectations while ensuring long-term durability under theme park traffic.

Use of Materials

Rapid Set TRU Polishable Overlay was essential to the project’s success, providing:

• Reliable color and aggregate exposure
• Rapid setting to reduce downtime and allow fast-track scheduling
• Excellent flow and finish characteristics for complex pours

Additional materials included custom integral pigments, decorative aggregates (glass, quartz, pearl), Coval Ultimate Top Coat, Ameripolish 3DHS densifier, Hi-Tech TX3 epoxy grout, and brass inlay elements.

How Rapid Set Helped Overcome Challenges

Rapid Set TRU’s fast-setting characteristics allowed the team to complete expansive pours within tight windows, critical in a live construction site with other trades working around them. Its flowability and polishability enabled crews to produce consistent finishes across multiple rooms with different lighting conditions, architectural intersections, and foot traffic profiles. Without TRU, achieving this balance of creative freedom and project speed would have been far more difficult, if not impossible.

Project Results

The finished floors exceeded expectations. Visual storytelling objectives were met in every space, transitions were clean, inlays were precise, and no cracking or finish failures occurred during or after construction. Each floor was protected throughout construction using Skudo GP Mat and Skudo Board, and the final results now anchors the aesthetic identity of the three venues within Celestial Park. This project proves what’s possible when architectural vision, construction execution, and high-performance materials work in harmony. It now serves as a reference point within the Universal Creative team for future polished concrete overlay work.