Beauty and Function: How Two Award-Winning Concrete Projects Are Raising the Bar

Concrete often gets pigeonholed as either decorative or structural. Yet these two CTS Cement Projects of the Year make the case that it's both. One project transformed a theme park into a visual wonderland that guides millions of guests through an immersive world. The other saved a major sports facility from a critical floor flatness problem that would have derailed tournament season.

Different goals, different constraints — yet both projects show that when used with intention, concrete enhances how spaces work and how people experience them.

Celestial Park at Universal Epic Universe

Project type: Polished concrete overlay

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Award: CTS Cement 2025 Polished Concrete Overlay Winner

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Size: 14,800 square feet

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Materials: Rapid Set® TRU® Self-Leveling

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Special features: Custom integral pigments, decorative aggregates (including glass, quartz, and mother-of-pearl), waterjet-cut brass inlays

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Contractor: David Allen Company

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Challenges: Cracked substrate, complex artistic design

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Outcome: One-of-a-kind, experience-driven flooring that supports the park’s visual narrative

Scheels Sports Park Dome

Project type: Slab repair and flatness correction

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Award: CTS Cement 2025 Repair & Restoration Winner

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Size: 20,000 square feet

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Materials: Rapid Set® LevelFlor®

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Contractors: Show Me Industrial Services and O’Shea Builders

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Challenge: Severe slab undulations threatening sports flooring installation

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Outcome: Restored flatness within tight tolerances and tight timelines

Celestial Park: Concrete as Immersive Art

Located at the entrance to Universal’s Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, Celestial Park serves as the hub where all themed lands converge. Underfoot, the polished concrete overlay installed by David Allen Company becomes part of the storytelling experience. The team placed more than14,800 square feet of Rapid Set TRU polishable overlay across three distinct spaces unified by a celestial theme: Otherworlds Mercantile, Atlantic Restaurant, and Oak & Star Tavern.

Serving as a major merchandise destination in the park, Otherworlds Mercantile features a 7,800-square-foot floor designed to mirror the constellation-themed ceiling above. The effect was achieved using rose gold, mother-of-pearl, and clear glass aggregates, along with over 2,500 linear feet of divider strips. Before the overlay could be placed, the substrate required extensive crack repair using carbon-fiber stitching, epoxy repair mortar, and a crack-suppression membrane.

Atlantic Restaurant features glass walls reminiscent of an enormous Victorian aquarium. To evoke an undersea atmosphere, the 2,500-square-foot floor overlay has a gradient of cobalt, aqua, and turquoise glass aggregates, along with brass inlays that suggest the rhythm of ocean waves. Because the surface was placed during a continuous pour, multiple crews had to coordinate closely to ensure a seamless visual transition throughout the space.

At Oak & Star Tavern, the 4,500-square-foot floor overlay was designed to deliver a combination of warmth and elegance, achieved with eight custom colors and waterjet-cut brass inlays. Because the floor sits adjacent to large-format tile, the project demanded precise subfloor leveling and layout to achieve perfect alignment.

“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.”

— CTS Cement, Universal Epic Universe Named 2025 Polished Concrete Overlay Winner

Across all three venues, the team worked under tight park-opening deadlines. Rapid Set TRU’s flowability and polishability enabled crews to deliver durable, immersive finishes that supported the park’s creative vision.

Scheels Sports Park Dome: Concrete as a Problem Solver

The Springfield Clinic Dome at Scheels Sports Park in Springfield, Illinois, spans 196,625 square feet and is said to be the largest air-supported sports dome in the world. Inside the dome, the flooring system required a substrate capable of meeting the tight flatness tolerances required for professional-grade athletic surfaces. However, portions of the existing slab had significant undulations that threatened the installation schedule and the facility’s ability to host upcoming tournaments.

Related: How to Level a Concrete Floor

Contractor Show Me Industrial Services was brought in to correct approximately 20,000 square feet of subfloor using Rapid Set LevelFlor self-leveling underlayment to fill in low areas, combined with surface grinding to reduce high spots. Not only did the slab need to meet a 1/8-inch flatness tolerance, the work also had to be performed under constant interior airflow, a condition created by the dome's air-supported structural system. This had a significant effect on the working time and curing conditions for the underlayment, requiring the team to adjust mixing, pour rates, and finishing operations to maintain consistency across the slab.

Although this type of corrective work rarely draws attention, it was essential to the floor’s safety and playability. By using the fast-setting, high-performance underlayment, the team restored the slab to the required levelness within the project’s tight timeline, helping keep the dome on track for its busy season. The crew placed more than 900 bags of Rapid Set LevelFlor over four days, underscoring the scale and speed of the project.

“The finished floor provided a highly stable and consistent surface that enabled proper performance of the athletic flooring systems, ensuring safe play, optimal ball bounce, and long-term functionality in a nationally significant facility.”

— CTS Cement, Scheels Sports Park Dome Named 2025 Repair & Restoration Winner

Two Projects, One Message

Whether dazzling theme-park guests or keeping athletes in motion, these projects reveal the full spectrum of what concrete can achieve. In skilled hands, it becomes a medium for creativity, a tool for solving complex performance challenges, and a platform for innovation. Together, these CTS Cement award winners show that beauty and function aren’t opposing goals — they are qualities concrete can deliver simultaneously, raising expectations for what the material can contribute to the built environment.