Over the Top Terrazzo wins NTMA Honor Award for Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo clinic floor

By AI, Created 10:46 PM UTC, June 01, 2026, /AGP/ – The National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association recognized Over the Top Terrazzo for a seven-color eagle medallion installation at the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Community Health Clinic in El Paso, Texas. The project blends technical terrazzo work with tribal symbolism shaped by Tigua community input.

Why it matters: - The award highlights how public buildings can reflect Indigenous identity through permanent design, not just decoration. - The clinic floor turns a high-traffic medical space into a cultural marker tied to more than 300 years of Tigua history in El Paso. - The project also shows how terrazzo can combine durability, precision and custom artwork in one installation.

What happened: - The National Terrazzo & Mosaic Association named Over the Top Terrazzo of El Monte, Calif., a 2026 Honor Award recipient. - The winning project is the terrazzo installation at the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Community Health Clinic in El Paso, Texas. - The floor features a seven-color eagle medallion and bands of color designed to guide circulation through the atrium. - Over the Top Terrazzo also received a second NTMA 2026 Honor Award for a residential installation at Sierra Towers in West Hollywood. - The company was established in 2008.

The details: - The Tigua Indian community of El Paso was established in 1682 and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the United States. - Architect Carl Daniel of Carl Daniel Architects led the clinic design with a focus on how the building would represent a living cultural identity. - The atrium floor became the centerpiece for that goal. - Daniel said terrazzo was chosen for beauty and wearability in a high-traffic space. - The design team met with tribal members before design work began and revised early concepts based on their feedback. - The initial river concept was adjusted to better reflect symbols with cultural meaning for the tribe. - Over the Top Terrazzo brought four-by-four and four-by-eight samples to the job site, then adjusted them after review. - The black eagle elements were waterjet-cut from Absolute Black granite at 65,000 PSI directly from the CAD drawing. - Finer details were etched into gray granite by hand-cutting resistant masking tape and sandblasting the exposed areas. - The granite components were set into a hand-poured terrazzo field with tight tolerances during on-site casting and grinding. - The floor was polished to 1500 grit for a high sheen. - CDA Architects also received the Jury Prize at the AIA El Paso Chapter’s 2023–2024 Design Awards for the clinic’s interior design. - The 2026 Honor Awards included 17 winning projects submitted by NTMA member contractors. - The NTMA Honor Awards recognize outstanding terrazzo installations based on design achievement, craftsmanship and technical execution.

Between the lines: - The project pairs technical complexity with cultural specificity, which can raise the design value of a functional floor. - The emphasis on tribal review suggests the medallion is not just inspired by Tigua history, but shaped by the community itself. - The award also reinforces terrazzo’s role as a premium medium for large-scale custom imagery.

What’s next: - A full list of this year’s Honor Award recipients is available at ntma.com. - NTMA says Technical Director Gary French is available at gary@ntma.com for more information about terrazzo resources. - The association continues to offer free resources and AIA-registered continuing education for architects and design professionals. - NTMA member contractors will likely keep submitting projects for future Honor Awards as terrazzo remains a specialty craft market.

The bottom line: - Over the Top Terrazzo’s winning clinic floor is both a technical showcase and a cultural statement, anchored in Tigua symbolism and built for daily use.