John Caretti wins NTMA award for Lookingglass Theatre terrazzo

By AI, Created 10:26 PM UTC, June 01, 2026, /AGP/ – The National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association named John Caretti & Co. a 2026 Honor Award recipient for the Lookingglass Theatre lobby expansion in Chicago. The project solved a complex level change in a historic landmark with a terrazzo floor designed for wayfinding, permanence and heavy public use.

Why it matters: - The Lookingglass Theatre lobby now has a floor that solves circulation, preserves the historic building, and gives the space a lasting architectural identity. - The terrazzo installation links the lower entry, ramp, stairs and inner lobby into one continuous surface. - The project shows how terrazzo can handle heavy foot traffic, complex transitions and a grant-funded budget in a historic public space.

What happened: - The National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association named John Caretti & Co. of Morton Grove, Ill., a 2026 Honor Award recipient for work at Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago. - Wheeler Kearns Architects designed the lobby expansion project. - The award was presented to the terrazzo contractor on May 13 at the NTMA annual convention. - Lookingglass Theatre occupies the Chicago Avenue Pumping Station, a Gothic Revival landmark built in 1869. - The building is one of the few Chicago structures that predate the Great Chicago Fire.

The details: - The renovated area sat two feet below the existing lobby floor. - The building’s age made adding floor height impossible. - The design had to bridge stairs and a ramp, unify two disconnected spaces, and stay within a limited budget. - Wheeler Kearns described the area as “a forgotten space.” - The floor pattern draws from ancient celestial maps. - Overlapping orbits rotate around the hub of the space. - Main arcs sweep from multiple entry points toward the inner lobby. - The layout works as wayfinding without signage. - The floor uses four epoxy terrazzo colors balanced by a neutral field. - The marble aggregate mix adds depth and cohesion. - Brass divider strips define the orbital arcs, and each strip follows a different radius. - Each brass strip was bent by hand on site with a custom-manufactured bender. - Sergio Calleros, Caretti’s foreman, said the tool has since become standard on curved installations. - Caretti and Wheeler Kearns combined precast and poured-in-place terrazzo. - More than 600 square terrazzo insets were fabricated separately. - Workers placed the insets by hand within the poured-in-place field. - The surfaces were ground and polished together to a single finish. - The precast squares let the pattern wrap stair edges and cross transitions seamlessly. - The full installation took 30 days.

Between the lines: - The project is as much about ownership as aesthetics. Wheeler Kearns said the terrazzo gave the space permanence and provenance it did not have before. - The floor is doing architectural work that signage often handles, which keeps the intervention quieter and more integrated. - Caretti framed the terrazzo as a durable choice for a historic building with intense public use. - The award reflects both craftsmanship and technical execution, not just visual design. - John Caretti & Co., founded in 1884, is a charter member of the NTMA.

What’s next: - The completed lobby floor will continue serving visitors as a permanent circulation and identity element for Lookingglass Theatre. - The NTMA says the annual Honor Award program recognizes outstanding terrazzo installations by member contractors, with 17 recipients selected this year. - The association continues to promote terrazzo standards, technical guidance and continuing education for design professionals.

The bottom line: - The Lookingglass Theatre project turns a difficult historic renovation into a single, legible floor that guides visitors and reinforces the building’s character for decades to come.