Six homes where poured resin floors provide a colourful backdrop

Epoxy flooring, typically reserved for garages and industrial settings, is increasingly crossing over into residential interiors to introduce an unexpected burst of colour, as testified in our latest lookbook.

Developed by chemists in the 1930s, epoxy is made by mixing a base resin with a hardening agent to create a durable thermosetting plastic that found its first applications during world war two.

At the time, it was mainly used to coat and protect military equipment from moisture, chemicals and corrosion.

But the material's wartime success soon spawned further research and the discovery that epoxy adheres easily to concrete, making it a popular choice for industrial flooring in factories, warehouses and laboratories.

Resin flooring eventually made its way into the home by the 1960s – although largely limited to garages, basements and the occasional kitchen.

Now, a new generation of colour-hungry architects and interior designers are bringing epoxy into living spaces as a more durable, low-maintenance alternative to tiles or carpets.

As the material is poured in situ and left to harden, it opens up the possibility of creating seamless floors across the whole home or custom patterns that respond to the architecture, as seen in the six examples below.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring statement staircases, terracotta floors and kitchens with open shelving.

Apartment on a Mint Floor, Portugal, by Fala Atelier

Portuguese studio Fala Atelier spread glossy pistachio-green epoxy across the floors of this Porto apartment – including the terrace – to create a seamless surface.

"The colour choice was very much an intuitive one," studio co-founder Filipe Magalhães told Dezeen.

"The goal was to unify all the spaces of the project, inside and outside, somehow compensating for the overall complexity of the plan."

Find out more about Apartment on a Mint Floor ›

Riverside Tower apartment, Belgium, by Studio Okami Architecten

The original concrete structure of Antwerp's brutalist Riverside Tower takes centre stage in this duplex apartment by local firm Studio Okami Architecten.

To counterbalance the building's rough cementitious surfaces, a peach-tinted resin floor was added alongside plenty of plants and a pastel-blue spiral staircase that leads up to the private spaces.

Find out more about Riverside Tower apartment ›

Univers Uchronia, France, by Uchronia

Leaning heavily into a 1970s theme, Uchronia founder Julien Sebban poured resin in different pastel colours across the floors of his apartment in Paris.

The result is a wavy pattern that moulds and responds to the architecture of the building, with swirls of butter yellow, mint green and baby blue.

Find out more about Univers Uchronia ›

Slab House, UK, by Bureau de Change Architects

Deep blue resin serves to delineate the kitchen from the open-plan living area of south London's Slab House by Greek duo Bureau de Change Architects.

Matching blue storage cupboards line the walls, concealing ample storage on one side and a cloakroom on the other.

Find out more about Slab House ›

Relámpago House, Spain, by H3O

Zigzagging walls and colourful surfaces come together to create an unexpected interior in this converted barn (top and above), where all the floors are coated in either seafoam green or fleshy pink epoxy that's so glossy, it almost looks wet.

Spanish architecture studio H3O designed the interior to offer a counterpoint to the "anodyne interiors we are used to".

Find out more about Relámpago House ›

Lika Lab, China, by Say Architects

Although not technically set in a home, the lounge of Hangzhou's Lika Lab boutique features an almost residential set-up, combining designer Patricia Urquiola's Tufty-Time sofa with custom furniture clad in milky resin.

The same translucent resin was also used to cover the store's two windows to create a hazy ambience, completed by spreading glossy, peach-coloured epoxy across the floors.

Find out more about Lika Lab ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring statement staircases, terracotta floors and kitchens with open shelving.

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