SHEIKE is an Australian women's fashion retailer, and its new store at Galleria Shopping Centre in Morley, Perth, called for a floor finish that would hold its own against a refined retail fit-out of dark timber joinery, polished stainless fixtures and natural stone counters. Interior Build Pty Ltd engaged TN Stone to deliver the screeding and floor tiling package across the 135 m² tenancy.
The design pairs warm 300 × 600 mm beige porcelain tiles across the main floor with 600 × 600 mm Calacatta Viola marble borders running along the perimeter and around the fitting rooms. The marble's bold veining is deliberately set against the quieter porcelain, so the stone reads as a frame around the retail floor rather than competing with it.
Sand-Cement Screed Preparation
Retail fit-outs run on tight programmes, and the floor is on the critical path — joinery, fixtures and merchandising all follow it. Before any tile went down, TN Stone laid and levelled a sand-cement screed across the full 135 m² to bring the slab to a flat, true surface at the correct finished floor height for the tenancy and its threshold to the mall concourse.
A well-prepared screed is what allows a long-format porcelain tile to sit flat without lippage and lets stone borders meet the field tiles cleanly at the same level. Our approach to screed mix, thickness and curing follows the method set out in our sand-cement screed guide for tile flooring.
300 × 600 mm Porcelain Laid with a Levelling System
The beige porcelain tiles were set out from a laser line along the main axis of the store, then laid in a running bond with a tile levelling system to pull every edge flush with its neighbour. With a 600 mm tile edge, even a small variation in the bed shows as lippage under retail lighting, so clips and wedges were used across the whole floor rather than only at the edges.
Laser Set-Out
Porcelain field tiles laid to a laser line with levelling clips and wedges on every joint.
On-Site Cutting
A contained wet-saw station kept cutting on site tidy within the live shopping-centre construction zone.
Calacatta Viola Marble Borders
The 600 × 600 mm Calacatta Viola marble pieces form a continuous border around the perimeter of the store, returning around the fitting-room pods and the stone-clad counter. Because the marble and the porcelain are different thicknesses and the stone carries natural variation, each border piece was individually bedded so its face sits flush with the adjoining porcelain.
Where the border meets the walls and the fitting-room partitions, the same stone was carried up as a skirting, giving a clean, continuous line at floor level and protecting the painted walls from trolleys and footwear in a busy retail environment.
Fitting Rooms
Porcelain floor and stone skirting carried through the fitting-room corridor.
Stone Skirting
Veined stone skirting returns around each fitting-room opening.
A Floor Built for Retail
The finished floor runs flat and continuous from the shopfront threshold through to the fitting rooms, with the marble border tying the floor to the stone counter and the dark timber joinery. The warm porcelain keeps the space bright under the store's downlights, while the veined borders give the fit-out the natural-stone character the design called for.
A big thank you to Richard, Simon and the whole Interior Build team for the opportunity to be part of this fit-out.
Scope of Works
- 135 m² sand-cement screed, laid and levelled to finished floor height
- 300 × 600 mm beige porcelain floor tiling, laser set-out
- Tile levelling system across the full floor
- 600 × 600 mm Calacatta Viola marble perimeter borders
- Stone skirting to walls and fitting-room partitions
- Borders returned around fitting-room pods and counter
- On-site cutting within a live shopping-centre construction zone
- Grouting and final clean
Project details
| Project | SHEIKE store fit-out |
|---|---|
| Location | Galleria Shopping Centre, Morley, Perth WA |
| Client | Interior Build Pty Ltd |
| Area | 135 m² |
| Materials | 300 × 600 mm beige porcelain tiles; 600 × 600 mm Calacatta Viola marble borders |
| Application | Screeding, commercial floor tiling, natural stone borders and skirting |
TN Stone delivers wall and floor tiling and large-format porcelain installation for retail and commercial fit-outs, and will travel for the right project. See more of our work in the portfolio.
Planning a Retail or Commercial Fit-Out?
TN Stone Pty Ltd provides screeding, floor tiling and natural stone work for shopfitters, builders and commercial clients, with over 40 years of combined trade experience.
Contact TN Stone to discuss your fit-out programme, floor specification and finishes.