The Craftsman:   Thomas McAllister of The Ardit Company

His Winning Work:  Terrazzo flooring in the Ross Heart Hospital at The Ohio State University

The exceptional skills of Thomas McAllister ensured that the terrazzo flooring in the Ross Heart Hospital was of the highest standard.

He led a crew of five under a very tight schedule, and manufactured the entire product on site. McAllister used 33 different marble chips and six different custom epoxy resin colors. He mixed the components and poured them in place. Only one color could be poured per day because of the significance of each one remaining separate from the adjacent color.

The unique design created another challenge with a complex, flowing strip layout consisting of no straight lines. This required McAllister to extensively plot the areas to be able to match the architect’s drawings, which he did flawlessly.

McAllister has been with The Ardit Company for the past 23 of his 37 years in the industry. He is a member of Bricklayers Union Local 55.

Architect:  Design Group Inc.
Engineer:  Korda/Nemeth Engineering, Inc.
General Contractor:  Gilbane Building Company

McAllister is a two-time Craftsmanship Award winner. He received a Craftsmanship Award in 1998 for terrazzo flooring in the Ohio Department of Transportation and Department of Safety buildings. He started in the industry three days after high school as a summer job.

Updated 8/11/2005