Anyone who has accidentally bitten down on a peach pit knows how solid the blasted things are. Using them for flooring, then, doesn't require a stretch of the imagination — we employ and glam up concrete in homes, after all. As flooring, the stone of the so-called stonefruit takes its rightful place as a warm, organic and functional decor element.
Before you imagine the intense pain of stepping on a freshly exposed peach pit, a note on how the floors are made. The pits (or 'pips' as they are called in South Africa, where the floors are produced) are pressed into glue with silica sand resin, sanded flat and sealed with urethane.
The color of the resin (the 'ground' for the pits) is customizable, and the peach pits reveal a reddish color when sanded. The floors look cool, but not cold, to the touch and pleasingly textured.
Stone Fruit Floors is a South African outfit, founded by Alla le Roux. Le Roux was inspired by Klein Zoar, the home of an historical figure who rescued a shipwrecked crew. The show home for the floors also functions as an art gallery.
Via: Inhabitat
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Comments (10)
That's alot of peaches...
The peach pits are a great use of an existing "green" material but what about all the resin and glue... I'm skeptical.
N.
http://badhuman.wordpress.com
That floor is the pits.
Actually, it looks kind of like my wife's pecan toffee:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/2099061269/in/set-72157600128599909/
I like the idea of using a by-product as a flooring medium. I'd rather see the pits ground up and pressed into a smoother medium.
Another potentially valuable by-product could be the seed inside the pit. The seed has almond extract-like properties as well as traces of cyanide and some sort of blood cleansing properties.
i really like them. i really really do. i think they are lovely and i just want to walk all over them. these floors would be great for bathroom or kitchens where wet floors are a constant. would definitely prevent slip-age.
Seems like a great idea!
I wonder what happens to the fruit around the peach pit?
sarahjam,
Um, canned and frozen, perhaps?
As I was walking through the streets of Old Town Alexandria, VA for business, I realized I could never live there. All of the sidewalks are either cobblestones or old bricks. All of my work shoes are stilettos.
Maybe nice on barefeet?
I like very much this type of floor, I am going to start eating peaches now!
I love peach-pip floors! They're really beautiful, and the ultimate in recycling. I used to work at an open-air museum in South Africa, and the little dairy had a peach-pip floor. Except it was done the old-fashioned way - with mud/dung as binding, not resin. It just needed topping up every now and again!